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Home , Aeroflot Open, Alexander Moiseenko, Arkadij Naiditsch, Bernard Cafferty, Biel Chess Festival, Carsten Pedersen

Techniques of Positional Play and in 45 Practical Methods to Gain the Upper Hand in Chess Seize the Moment to Get the Advantage Bronznik & Terekhin 240 pages - £21.95 Ivan Sokolov 256 pages - £21.95 SACRHICI _.AND This improved edition of a Russian classic teaches amateur A sacrifice, says Ivan Sokolov, is the natural product of the l chess players some extremely effectiveskills in a crystal­ initiative. That is why he not only presents a set of practical clear manner. tools that will help you to master the art of the sacrifice, INITIATIVE !:\'CHESS but also teaches when the initiative is at stake and how you "One of the best books on positional play you're ever likely $ciz�·thcJ\lomC'llt should grab it. llJ j;d the .\J\'OllltJ�C to read." - Paul Kane, Manchester Chess Federation With lots of examples and exercises. ,,_____ N EWt

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The Complete c3 Sicilian 100 Endgames You Must Know The Alapin Variation by its Greatest Expert Third, Improved and Extended Edition

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c11essractics Tune Your Chess Tactics Antenna The Strategic Nimzo-lndian Know when (and where!) to look for winning A Complete Guide to the Rubinstein Variation The SlratcJic nntenna combinations Ivan Sokolov limza·lndlan Knowwben(andwhtre!)tolook forwinningcomblr11llons Emmanuel Neiman 240 pages - £21.95 416 pages - £23.95

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Yearbook 107 The Modern French The Chess Player's Guide to Opening News A Complete Guide for Black

256 pages - £25.45 Antic & Maksimovic 368 pages - £23.95

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professional." - Carsten Hansen, ChessCafe rage reviews." - GM Jacob Aagaard, author of 'Attacking Manual' "Terrific value." - Chess Contents Chess Magazine is published monthly.

Founding Editor: B.H. Wood, OBE. M.Sc t Editorial ...... 4 Executive Editor: Malcolm Pein on the latest developments Editors: , Byron Jacobs

Associate Editor: John Saunders 60 Seconds with...... 7 Subscriptions Manager: Paul Harrington WFM Sarah Hegarty Twitter: @CHESS_Magazine Twitter: @TelegraphChess - Malcolm Pein Mickey Adams takes Dortmund by Storm ...... 8 A 2923 performance clinches first ahead of Kramnik Website: www.chess.co.uk

David Howell dominates in Torquay...... 1 2 Subscription Rates: Umted Kingdom The 2009 Champion made all in the 2013 British Championship 1 year (1 2 issues) £49.95 2 year (24 issues) £89.95 First Equal at the Scottish ...... 20 3 year (36 issues) £1 25 Danny Gormally reports from Helensburgh

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Chess Magazine (ISSN 0964-6221) is published by: Studies...... 51 Chess & Bridge Ltd, 44 Baker St, , W1 U 7RT Brian Stephenson on the importance of Richard Guy ·Tel: 020 7388 2404 Fax: 020 7388 2407 Email: [email protected], Website: www.chess.co.uk Overseas News ...... 52 FRONT COVER: It's been a busy summer from Andorra to Helsingor Cover Design: Matt Read

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via www.chess41ess.com Saunders on Chess ...... 58 John's 20+, 40+, and 60+ players of the month Printed in the UK by The Magazine Photo credits Andorra Chess Federation (p.6), Steve Connor (1 5, 1 6), Calle Printing Company using only paper Erlandsson (pp.26-28), Eteri Kublashvili (p.25), Ray Morris Hill (pp.1, 7, 9), from FSC/PEFC suppliers Brendan O'Gorman (pp. 1 3-14, 1 7-1 8, 21 -23, 49, 53r), (p.52), www .magprint.co.uk John Saunders (p.531). www.chess.co.uk 3 Chess Editorial

By Executive Editor, IM Malcolm Pein Follow me on Twitter: @TelegraphChess

The highlights this month are two superb the semi-finals and final will take place on cal games against Alexander Shimanov. In performances from Michael Adams, victor Sunday 15th. The prize fund is €1 50,000 the next round Shimanov was eliminated in at Dortmund, and David Howell who scored with €50,000 to the winner. a blunderful match by . Mickey a dominating victory in the British Champi­ Tickets will go on sale with the October had several good positions against the onship. However, before we look at those, I magazine and will be for a complete day's Ukrainian Yuri Kryvoruchko, but could not can, as promised, outline the schedule of the play. Schools activity will take place each capitalise and in the second play-off game fifth London in which both week day. Another innovation will be a Pro­ he found a small that won a players have already agreed to participate. celeb and a Pro-CEO tourna­ but the and pawn endgame that The festival will run as usual, and again in­ ment on Monday 16th December which will arose was actually worse for him; not an clude two weekends to maximise opportuni­ be followed by the closing fund-raising din­ easy thing to appreciate with just minutes ties for participation. The festival will begin ner. I am on the look out for any chess play­ left. We will cover these events next month. on Saturday 7th December and the tourna­ ing celebs not already on my list, so readers' ments will be similar to last year with week­ suggestions to [email protected] are most Howell's Dedication enders and rapids. The FIDE-rated Open will welcome. David Howell seems to like Torquay: he won also begin then and run until December 15th, the British there in 2009 and returned to with a civilised schedule of one game a day. Dortmund Delight triumph again this year. At the closing This year there will be an innovation as after In our July issue we covered the Alekhine ceremony David dedicated his win to his four rounds, the leading two players will be Memorial where Mickey Adams was well father who passed away not long before the transferred to the main event which will be a placed to win before he missed a trick against tournament. I admire his courage and de­ · 1 6-player rapid tournament. ; an easy thing to do as the rest termination in not only being able to play, The elite rapid will begin on Wednesday of the world's elite can testify. There were but also to play so superbly. It was nice to 11th December with four groups of four signs there that Mickey was getting into gear be able to watch David's address at the players playing each other twice. Two from and he confirmed this with a stunning per­ prize-giving on the ECF website. each group will qualify for the quarter-finals formance that denied his I am sure many readers will have met which will take place on Saturday 14th, and eleventh victory in his favourite Dortmund David's father Martin around the chess

LIFE ON THE BACK RANK byTrlstan tournament. scene. He was a regular visitor to the Lon­ Kramnik's 6Y2/9 would nor­ don Chess Classic, and always a pleasure to mally be enough to win, but have in the VIP Room. Our condolences go Mickey scored an unbeaten 7 /9, to David's family, particularly his mother defeating , Angeline. , the Russian Champion , the Zero Tolerance for Zero Tolerance Chinese no.1 and, in a The ludicrous FIDE 'zero tolerance' rule, brutally efficient game, Igor under which any player not sitting at the Khenkin. Mickey gained 20 rat­ board when the arbiter presses the clock ing points, soared into the is automatically defaulted, claimed another world's top 1 2 on the live list innocent victim at the as the and reached an all-time high young Peruvian Grandmaster, Jorge Cori, rating of 2764. The last round was only a minute or so late for his play-off with white against Kramnik could match with . Cori then have been tense, but Mickey had to win the fourth play-off game with · smoothly neutralised the 14th 1 0 minutes plus 1 0 seconds each to stay in World Champion and took the the match, but could not manage it. title, as we'll see on page 11. There is a clear pattern emerging. All the victims are not English speakers. In Cori's Knocked Out case he thought he heard the arbiter say Mickey and went "6:50" when the start time was 6:1 5. Ian to the World Cup in Tromso, Rogers on the spot for the USCF reported but at time of writing both had this conversation: "Is the start time 6:50?" just been eliminated. Gawain asked Cori. "Yes", replied the arbiter, expect­ went out in the fourth play-off ing and therefore hearing 6:1 5. Cori only t#@BackRankTrl•t1tn #LOTBR game after he drew two classi- realised his mistake when he saw the players

4 September 2013 seated for the next round on his computer eS; in reality he has a very weak king and a to play. Anand and Carlsen didn't need to play screen. He raced down to the playing hall, but monster to contend with. and Topalov had won the FIDE Grand Prix. arrived two minutes late. In fact, as Rogers The only other absentee from the World's points out, Radjabov had made 1 00% sure of top 30 was China's which I the point by stopping the clocks one second thought was odd until I started to watch the after they started and then making himself games of his compatriots. Ding Liren is an scarce. incredible talent, but in his place were even I am pretty sure I recall Chinese players younger players. 1 S year-old IM Wan Yunguo being defaulted at a previous World Cup and very nearly eliminated Michael Adams in the then, as John Henderson pointed out in his first round while fourteen year old column in Th e Scotsman, there was a disaster accounted for and at last year's European Championships when Alexey Shirov. I can't wait to see how he does all of the Georgian players were defaulted against Shak Mamedyarov. By the time you en masse, the day after the clocks went for - get the magazine the competition should be ward. According to Henderson they don't at roughly the semi-final stage and who have daylight saving in Georgia, and were knows? We might be talking about a poten­ baffled by the whole business of adjusting tial world champion on the march. clocks. It's all about communication. I once nearly stranded an entire dele­ 19... as 20 bS gation in Budapest when an announcement 20 ..lil..d3, and if 20 ..axb4 21 i.xg6 was Tragic news came from recently that on the clock change was made before the strong. the talented Grandmaster Igor Kurnosov was last round, in fluent Hungarian. 20 ...c6 21 bxc6 bxc6 22 :d3 VWb6+ 23 killed in a traffic accident in Chelyabinsk. Kur­ Clearly the zero tolerance rule is stupid, Wh1 dS 24 cxdS cxdS 2S J:!.xdS! nosov was a winner of the Hastings Masters but any disasters could be avoided by the A great practical move in a rapid game and played a number of wonderful games, simple purchase of an electronic sign which and pretty strong objectively too. perhaps none better than this famous en­ might indicate the time of the next game and 2S ...tLlxdS 26 �xdS l:tad8 27 �e4 li!:f6 counter from the 2009 . as in athletics, have a countdown to when the 27... .l:!.fS was the only chance, although after 28 e7 :es 29 a4 intending h3 and games are due to start. As the prize fund is S.Mamedyarov-1.Kurnosov $1.6 million and the organisational costs .tbs Black is certainly struggling. must be at least that, FIDE could consider this 28 e7 l:te829 'li'dS+?Wg7 30 'ii'es 'ii'f2? 2009 small purchase even if they aren't bright White's careless 29th had allowed Black GnJnfe/d Defence enough to scrap the rule. the chance 30 ...� bS 31 'ii'xb8 J:!.xf1+I, but 's tweet summed it up: "I not here 31 .. J:txb8 3 2 .tbs!. 1 d4 tLlf6 2 c4 g6 3 f3 have zero tolerance for FIDE's zero tolerance 31 .tbsWh7 This Anti-GrOnfeld line is very sharp. policy! Forfeiting a kid at the most important 3 ...dS 4 cxdS ttJxdS S e4 tLlb6 6 tLlc3 event of his life for being a minute late?" i.g7 7 i.e3 0-0 8 �d 2 ttJc6 9 0-0-0 fS · In case we lose sight of what an amazing One of the ideas of this move is to try talent Cori is, here is his victory over Rad­ and gain control of the dS-square after a jabov, a 201 3 Candidate, in a rapid game. possible exfS or e4-eS. 10 h4 fxe4 11 hS ttJ i. 'ii' J.Cori-T.Radjabov 11 fxe4 xd4 1 2 xd4 xd4 1 3 'l!Yxd4 .ll.xd4 1 4 �xd4 :xf1 + is another Tromso (rapid) 201 3 tactical point behind 9 .. .fS. King's 11 ...gxhS 1 2 dS ttJes 1 3 Ah6 ttJec4 14 �gs .i:t.f7 1 d4 tLlf6 2 c4 g6 3 tLlc3 i.g7 4 e4 d6 5 tLlf3 0-0 6 i.e2 es 7 0-0 ttJc6 8 dS tbe79 b4 The Bayonet Attack, one of the most heavily discussed lines in chess and one in which Radjabov is recognised as an expert Now if 32 i.xbS?? �f1 +!, but White 9 ... tt:ihs 1 o J:!.e1 fs 11 ttJgs tt:if4 12 can do much better. i.xf4 exf4 13 Il.c1 h6 14 ttJe6i.xe6 1 5 32 �a1 11-0 dxe6 i.xc3 If Black has to do this then the whole There was quite a lot of comment online line is suspect. Perhaps Radjabov did not about the searching of all the players before want to reveal his a key part of his prepara­ the first round which was odd because dur­ tion in a rapid play-off of an early round. ing play the spectators could roam free. As I 16J:rxc3 fxe4 17 ilf1 e3 18 fxe3 fxe3 write the World Cup is still shaping up to be White is clearly better. Instead, 18.. .f3 a great event and the double commentary was played in Crouch-S.Buckley, British act of Susan Polgar and Championship, Millfield 2000, and is defi­ works well. Watching from my vantage 1 S i.xc4 nitely a better move. However, White still point in Gibraltar, I was pleased at how well If 1 S tLlxe4 tLlxb 2. won and, indeed, he is better after 1 9 gxf3 the website worked on my iPhone. 1 S ...tt:ixc4 16.l:t.d4 'ii' d6 tLlfS 20 e4 tLlh4 21 cS, although at least Countering the attack on the with Black has counterplay. The Chinese Kids are Coming an attack on the , but 1 6 ...ttJ xb2 I! 1 7 19 lkxe3 As the World Cup is a qualifier for the Candi­ Wxb2 (if 17 J:!.xe4 etJd3+ 18 Wd2 JlfS 19 In dreamland Black can get his knight dates, 26 of the world's top 30 players came Wxd3 e61 20 'ii'xd8+ l:lxd8 21 Axg7 exdS!) www.chess.co.uk 5 1 7 . . . cs! is even better. 17 i.xg7 l:txg7 18 �xhS �f4+ 19 �b1 i.fS 20 fxe4 The Trends in 20 lllxe4 �xg2 21 J:!.xc4� d2! wins. 20... i.g4 21 tt:lge2 �d2 22 l:!.xd2 tt:lxd2+ 23 ®c2 ..txhS 24 l:txhSlll f1 0-1 Chess

Good Trip, Bad Trip There are times when you realise you Openings shouldn't have come. My last attempt to The top twenty chess openings play a tournament began with my watch as played by International Masters stopping just as I was about to leave the and Grandmasters in July. house, my phone malfunctioning, my flight delayed, missing a connecting bus, my hotel reservations both not materialising, my lap­ 0 1f King's Indian Defence 146games top screen breaking and then at the board a f)<::::> Slav Defence 137games compunction to lose to every child I played. I 19 i.eS �b1 20 i.xg7 .l:!.xc1 21 J:!.xc1 think I'll forget about trying to play a tour­ f6 22 .l:!.xc2 �xg7 23 .l:!.xc8+ @f7 24 0 '°' Reti Opening 123games nament for a while, but next year... Andorra! J::(f8+ 1-0 G 1f Nimzo-lndian Defence 91games By all accounts it's a lovely event and for one English GM, nowadays a local one, it e '°' Caro-Kann Defence 17games was pretty successful. Dave Norwood is D.Norwood­ back in action again and merrily disproving J.Arizmendi Martinez G iI Grunfeld, Classical Var. 16games the theory that having kids is bad for your Andorra Open 201 3 0 if English, 1 . ..Nf6 67games chess. Dave recently had a 2600+ result Reti Opening •n which included a win over Ruben Felgaer, W v Sicilian, Najdorf Variation 61games A.A. who was soon after playing with success at V u 's Indian Defence 61games the World Cup 1 lllf3 dS 2 c4 e6 3 g3 tt:lf6 4 i.g2i.e7 I had to enjoy the fact that Dave was S 0-0 0-0 6 b3 cs 7 i.b2 lllc6 8 e3 b6 G> '°' Sicilian, 2 Nf3 d6 sidelines 59 games still playing 1 g3 and the 9 lllc3 i.b7 10 cxdS lllxdS 11 tt:lxd5 ., '°' 1 d4 Nf6 sidelines 57games with success - it could have been the exdS 12 d4 i.a6 13 lil.e1 c4 14 bxc4 1 980s. Here are a couple of his best games. i.xc4 1 S llld2 J:i.c8 16 a3 bS 17 l:tc1 0iIQueen's Gambit Declined 55games I:!.eB18 e4! lllas 19 exdS �d7 '°' English, 1 ... cs 54games If 19... i. xd S 20 l:!.xc8� xc8 21 lil..xdS. @) D.Norwood­ 20 'IWhSg6 21 '1Wf3 z:!.cdB m '°' Sicilian, Kan Variation 53games F.Cuenca Jimenez 6) '°' English, 1 ...es 44games Andorra Open 2013 ., '°' Sicilian, 2 Nf3 sidelines 42games GiI Semi-Slav Defence 41games 1 g3 g6 2 i.g2i.g7 3 c4 cS 4 tt:lc3 lllc6 fiiI Sicilian, Taimanov Variation 40 games S tt:lf3 a6 6 0-0 J:!.b8 7 a3 bS 8 cxbS axbS 9 b4 c4? 10 a4 bxa4 11 J:!.xa4 dS G> iI Queen's Gambit Accepted 4.0 games 12 bS i.xc3? 13 bxc6! i.g7 14 d3 c3 fZDiI English, 1 ...e6 38games 15 i.f4l:!b2 16 .l:!.a8 c2 1 7 �c1 e6 18 c7 �d7 2,2 70 games played between A rather sweet position and not one you 1-31 July 2013 where see often, with both sides having a pawn on both players were rated over 2400 Ela. queen's bishop seven. Source: TWIC. Compiled by: HIARCS 14.

In association with HIARCS Chess Explorer­ 22 d6! i.gS www.hiarcs.com 22 ...i. xd6 23 dS will be followed by �c3 or �f6 and The Week in Chess.­ 23 d5! �xd6 24 '¥Vc3 f6 2S '¥VxaS www.theweekinchess.com i.xdS 26 J:!.xe8+l:txe8 27 �xbS 1-0

The 2600 Club The Scottish Open was a success this year, as we'll see in these pages, and next year's edition will include the Commonwealth Championship. In Scottish chess they have a 2600 club which, barring Jonathan Rowson, is open to all players who defeat a 2600. The latest inductee is Neil Berry who won against the Argentinean GM Fernando Peralta. Berry was one of as many as 1 9 NeilBerry joins the Scottish 2600 club Scots who went to Andorra.

6 September 201 3 60 Seconds

with ... 5 5 50

5

WFM Sarah Hegarty 40 t 20

Born: 2nd October 1988. 35 25

Place of residence: Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire.

Occupation: Trainee Solicitor.

Is FIDE doing a good job? I don't really have an opinion Enjoyable? I have only started my job this week, but so far it's enjoyable. I've on this, although I don't think it was a good idea to intro­ always wanted to be a lawyer even since I watched Legally Blonde! duce FIDE ratings below 2000.

And home life? I was originally from Surrey, spent 4 years at Millfield School, Or the ECF? The ECF do an excellent job despite the Somerset, and then studied Chemistry and Law at Bristol University before criticism they receive. They have helped me a lot over the moving up north. I have lived with my boyfriend, Alex Longson, just outside years. Manchester for almost a year now. I love going out to restaurants and bars, meeting friends and socialising. I also enjoy walking and shopping, Any advice for either? FIDE should definitely scrap the zero tolerance rule. But sometimes good to escape to: I love going on holiday and relaxing in the sun; a nice break from reality! Can chess make one happy? Of course! It's a beautiful game of great intellect and talent which can be enjoyed Sports played or followed: I am not a massive sport's fan or player. by all ages and abilities. Through Alex I have started following and I support Fernando Alonso. A tip please for the club player: Do not worry about grades or ratings; play the pieces, not the opponent. A favourite novel? Thomas Hardy's Fa r From Th e Madding Cro wd

Film or TV series? A Beautiful Mindis my favourite film and my favourite girly film is Legally Blonde. In terms of series, I love Desperate Housewives, - L . Aronian V . Anand Dexter and Breaking Bad Wijk aan Zee 2013 What's the best thing about playing chess? The winning; there is no bet­ ter feeling than winning a nice game of chess.

And the worst? The losing, or should I say losing after a long time due to one momentary lapse which ruins hours of hard work. A few painful games come to mind ...

Your best move? Up north !

But less memorable than your worst move? Losing against Rasa Norinke­ viciute at the London Classic Invitational as it meant I missed out on a WIM .

And a highly memorable opponent? Nigel Short - I played him (and drew) in a simultaneous display at the premiere.

Favourite game of all time? I really enjoyed Anand-Aronian, Wijk aan Zee 201 3, which reminded me of a great classic, Rubinstein's ''. 15... .tcs ! ! 16 i..e2 t:LldeS 17 .txg4.txd4+ 18 'it>h1 t:Dxg4 19 t:DxfB fS 20 t:Llg6 �f6 21 h3 'ii'xg6 22 The best chess books: Attacking with 1 e4 (); Ta ctics fo r Ad­ 'ii'e2 'ii'hs 23 'ii'd3 .1i.e3 0-1 vanced Players (Viktor Vamos); 's 300 Positions You Should Kn ow. www.chess.co.uk 7 Mickey Adams takes Dortmund by Storm

One associates the Dortmund Sparkassen hS 11 �f4 ile7 1 2 J:tad1 tt'lh4 13 tllxh4 l:!.xa8 tlld4+ 22 We4 .l:txc1 Black was a tournament each July with one just player, ..txh4 14 tt'le2 ild7 1 S l:!.fe1 l:!.d8 16 tlld4 whole rook down, but with sufficient com­ Vladimir Kramnik, who has won the event no ilc8 17 c3 l:tdS 18 e6! saw White execut­ pensation thanks to the along the back fewer than ten times. However, Kramnik ing his ideal pawn break and he eventually rank and the exposed white king. Indeed, wasn't the top seed for the 201 3 edition. ground out a win after 64 moves in Adams­ this amazing game ended in perpetual That honour fell to the 201 2 Dortmund Andreikin. after 23 b4 ilb6 24 c4 cS 2S a3 l:te1+ 26 winner and new world no.3, Fabiano Caru­ 1 o ll:d1 @ca 11 g4 @d3 J:!.d 1 + 27 Wc3 J:[c 1 + 28 @d3 l:!.d1+ ana. Indeed, many pundits believed that the With Black's king not back on e8, White 29 �c3 l:tc1+ 30 Wd3 and Y2-Yi, Caruana­ tournament would be fought out between is understandably tempted to expand on the Kramnik, Moscow 201 3.

the young Italian and the Russian no.1 , but kingside, but Black's position remains solid 14•.. b6 one should never write off Mickey Adams. and much better than it may at first appear. Unlike in the previous line, there's no

Kramnik began by introducing a useful­ 11.•• tt'le7 12 tt'lgs .tee 13 f4 hS rush to open the kingside, since 1 4 ... hxg4 looking novelty against Wang Hao, which 1 S hxg4 l:Ih4 can now be met by 16 Wg3. won a pawn and then a rook after an unfor­ Moreover, here 1 S ....l:!.h2+ ?1 fails to improve tunate by the Chinese no.1. The on account of 16 Wg3 l;txc2? 17 tllh7 tllg6 Russian's ever-solid then held Arkadij 18 fS tt'lxeS 19 tt'lxfS when there's no good Naiditsch before he was unable to ever ob­ way to corral White's eager knight or go tain more than a nibble against another after his king. German Grandmaster, Igor Khenkin. That 1 s f5 'it>b7 16 tllc3 left Kramnik on 2/3, hardly a terrible score, The critical line, although it may be that but already a shot off the lead, for after the calm 1 6 Wg3 should have been pre­ tt'l . narrowly failing to grind down Fridman with ferred, when 16... cS (1 6 ...f6 1? 1 7 e6 the black pieces in the opening round, fxeS 18 tllc3 cs 19 tt'ld8+ Wb8 20 tlle4 Mickey Adams had won two in a row. looks quite dangerous for Black, but he may be able to successfully untangle after tll tt:\ i. F.Caruana-M.Adams 20 ... c8) 17 e6 fxe6 18 xe6 f7!? 19 tllxfS (19 tt'ld8+ l:rxd8 20 J:[xd8 tllc6 fol­ Round 3 lowed by ... tlld4 or 21 l:!.d7 tlleS gives Black Adams begins to fight back. Might it be some initiative) 19... J:[axfS 20 tt'lc3 J:[e8 21 that White's kingside adventures have but .¥1..f4 is a little better for White, but is likely 1 e4 es 2 tt'lf3 tt'lc6 3 .tbstt'lf6 4 0-0 left him overextended? drawish in view of the presence of opposite These days more and more grandmas­ 14 'it>f2 !? bishops.

ters are opting to avoid the Berlin Endgame A new move. Caruana had preferred 1 4 16••• hxg4 17 hxg4 l:th2+I 18 @g3 J:!.xc2 with 4 d3, but despite being surprised by a fS against no lesser Berlin expert than Mickey decides that it's time to grab the new addition to Adams's repertoire, Caruana Vladimir Kramnik in this year's Tai Memorial. pawn, but once again this does abandon the is happy to stick with the main line. After 1 4 ...hxg4 1 S hxg4 l:Ih4 1 6 Wf2 f8-bishop to its fate. In return Black hopes

4 ..• tllxe4 S d4 tlld6 6 ilxc6 dxc6 7 .l:!.xg4! 1 7 l:!.h1 ( 1 7 tllh 7 tllxfS 1 8 tllxfS b6 that a check on g2 will rather inconvenience dxeS tt'lfs 8 'ii'xdB+ @xdB 9 h3 ild7 19 tllh7 �h4 20 tllgS l:th2+ 21 Wg1 .l:txc2 the white king. An important alternative is 9 ...@ e8 as is also rather unclear) 1 7 ... tllxfS 1 8 l:!.h8 19 tllh7 cs Adams had faced the day before: 1 0 tt'lc3 �cs+ 19 @f3 .l:!.g 1 ! 20 .!:!.xe8+ Wd7 21

Dortmund 201 3

Rat. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 Perf. 1 Adams 2740 * y, y, 1 y, y, 2923 7 2 Kramnik 2784 y, * y, 0 y, 2866 6% 3 Leko 2737 y, 0 * y, y, y, y, y, y, 2706 4% 4 Naiditsch 2710 0 y, 0 * 0 y, y, 2709 4% s Andrei kin 2727 0 1 y, 0 * y, 0 y, y, 2669 4 6 Meier 2610 y, 0 y, y, * y, 0 y, y, 268 1 4 7 Caruana 2796 0 0 y, y, y, * 0 y, 2661 4 8 Wang Hao 2752 0 0 y, 0 y, * 0 2666 4 9 Khenkin 2605 0 y, y, 0 0 y, y, 1 * y, 2642 3% 10 Fridman 2629 y, 0 y, y, y, y, 0 0 y, * 2598 3

8 September 201 3 20 tt:lxf8 .!:l.xgS 2 9 tt:lxg S l:txh 1 3 0 tt:lxf7 @c8 31 e6 22 @f4 The bishop wasn't running away so 20 l:!.h2+ 32 @d3 lah3+ 33 �e4 c6 play will Approved by the engine, but it fails to e6!? came into consideration too. After most likely land up in a ) 23 ....!:l.g 2+ the appreciate the long-term danger of having 20 .. .fxe6 (20. .f6 21 lllxf8 il.c6 is the al­ game might well end in . such an advanced king position. However, ternative; following 22 tt:lg6 J:!:g2+ 23 @f4 Black doesn't have to agree to that right by this point Caruana was just in some trou­ l2\xg6+ 24 fxg6 .l:!.f2+ 2S We3 i:rf3 + 26 away, but after 23 ...l:!.f3 +!? 24 Wh4 J::!.xf8 ble with 22 Wh3 gxf61 23 ..th6 (23 exf6?

@e2 J:l.g3 Black will pick up a number of 2S ..txe7 J:!.e8 26 f6 he can't do anything J:l.xf8prepares to mate on the h-file) 23 .. JS pawns for the piece while continuing to better as shown by, for instance, 26 ... J::!.h8+ 24 gS f4! 2S l:!.g1 l:!.xb2 but one line in hassle the white king) 21 tt:lxf8 (21 fxe6? 27 @gs .l:f.g8 28 fxg7 l:!.xg7+ 29 @h4 which the clumsy positions of most of ..tc6 saves the bishop) 21 ...exfS 22 .!:!.d2 l:!.h7+ 30 '>itgs J::!.g7+. White's pieces leaves him very much fight­ l:.xd2 23 ..txd2 fxg4 24 @xg4 tt:lc6 Black 21 ....l:Ig2+ ing an uphill battle to survive. has three pawns for the piece and must 22 ... gxf6 23 exf6 .l:!.f2+ 24 @e3 have decent chances to draw if he can sim­ 24 @gs would have defended the ad­ plify while White goes after the g-pawn. vanced f-pawn, but after 24... J:Ixf8! 2S 20... ..tc6 21 f6? fxe7 J:.g8+ 26 Wh4 l:!.g2 White would again Caruana often calculates like a com­ have rather regretted the wandering nature puter, but must have missed something of his king. around here. White had to avoid 21 tt:lh 77 24... li!.xf6 25 tt:lh7li!.f3+ 26 @d2 l:tg2+ 22 'it>f4 l:!.h8, and if 23 tt:lgS' l:th4, 26 'i.t>e2 was the alternative, but after but 21 ..tgS! was a much better counterat­ 26 ... .!:l.h8 27 lLlgS (or 27 lLldS!? lLlxdS 28 tacking move than the text. Indeed, after @xf3 tt:lc3+ 29 Wg3 tt:lxd1, regaining the 21 ... lag2+ 22 @f4 �f2+ 23 '>itg3 (White sacrificed material with decisive interest) doesn't have to reconcile himself to a draw, 27 ... .l:!.h2+ 28 @e1 .l:!.ff2 there's no good but 23 @e3 l:!.f3 + 24 @e2 tt:lxfS! 2S gxfS defence to the calm threat of 29 ... J:.fg2. l:txfS is quite risky for his king; he might try 26... J:dS+ 27 @c2 to save his minor pieces with 26 lllh7 J::l.h8 Caruana may have hoped that his king 27 l:rh1 ! and after 27 .....t xh1 28 J:rxh1 had scuttled away to safety, but Adams next rather pours scorn on any such illu­ sions. 27.. Jb c3+! 28 bxc3 ..ta4+ 29 @b2 l:.xd1 30 ..tg5 White desperately hopes that the oppo­ site-coloured bishops will save him, but a pair of knights remains too and Adams was never going to mess this one up. 30... l2\c6 31 J::!.xd1 ..txd1 32 il.f4 ..txg4 33 tt:lf6 ..tf3 34 lL\eB l2\a5 35 l2\xc7 ..tc6! Trapping the knight heralds the end. 36 @c2 @cs 37 @d3 @d7 3S @c2 lllc4 39 tt:la6 ..tb7 40 tt:lba+ @cs 41 @d3 b5 0-1

The fourth round saw Kramnik catch the leader. Adams was always odds-on favour­ ite to hold Leko as Black, but Georg Meier took more risks than the Hungarian and was outplayed on the white side of a Catalan by a certain expert on that opening, Vladimir Kramnik. Elsewhere Caruana suffered a sec­ ond successive defeat as he was smoothly outplayed by Wang Hao in a Reti which rather knocked him out of contention. White against is never an easy task, even for Kramnik, and his quiet English set-up gave him no advantage whatsoever in the fifth round. Indeed, the Russian was even on the back foot when he speculated with a piece sacrifice. Leko de­ clined it, but may well have soon regretted his decision since he rather collapsed in a tense manoeuvring struggle in a most un­ charismatic manner. Adams too ventured 1 c4, also obtained absolutely nothing against Wang Hao, but then took advantage of some sub-optimal manoeuvring from his A fa ntastic win fo r Mickey Adams in Dortmund, opponent to score the full point. bouncing him back up to number 12 in the world Thus after five rounds Adams and Kram- www.chess.co.uk 9 nik found themselves a point and a half if 19 gS tt:Je8 20 tLle4 tLld6 which would Black should have preferred 26 ... bS!. After, ahead of the field. Arkadij Naiditsch desper­ still have left Black with a solid enough posi­ say, 27 tLld1 tt:Je8 28 tt:Jf2 bxc4 29 tt:Je4 es ately tried to bridge the gap, but his kingside tion. The problem with the text is that 30 gS fxgS 31 hxgS 'l/i/e6 it seems that attack always looked speculative at best White can do much better than shove his g­ somehow the black defences are holding. against Adams's QGD, and the Cornishman pawn. 27 'l/i/g3@es 28 �f4 'i'f8? defended calmly to claim the full point. 19 f5!tLld6 Just like Tal's opponents often did, Frid­ Kramnik's round six game was somewhat Allowing White a rather ominous­ man completes his collapse under the huge tougher, but also more elegant. looking attack, but 19... eS was hardly ideal psychological pressure of facing an attack­ either and after 20 tLldS J:!.ab8 21 'iif3 f6 ing Kramnik. The text permits a pretty blow

- 22 gS Black's position would have come which could have been avoided by V . Kramnik D . Fridman under pressure in any case. 28 ... J:tdcS. Then 29 tLle4 (or 29 'i1Vxh6 'i1Vf8 Round 6 20 f6 !? 30 tt:Jxf6+ tt:Jxf6 31 'l/i/xf6 'l/i/e7) 29 ... tt:Jxe4 Reti Opening The engines may not be totally con­ 30 dxe4 @d8 31 tt:Jxf6 £!.c7 leaves Black vinced by this move, but few grandmasters clinging on for the time being, although one 1 c4 e6 2 tLlf3 dS 3 b3 would have been able to resist it and it does could easily imagine that white h-pawn later Outrating his opponent by some 1 SO create serious practical difficulties for the deciding proceedings. points, Kramnik is happy to avoid the main defender. There was. however, nothing 29tLld5!! theoretical highways and takes play into a wrong with the calm 20 tLlf4 when recent favourite of his, the Reti. 20 ... i..gS 21 fxe6 fxe6 22 d4 retains a pull 3 ...tt:Jf6 20... ii.xf6 It's strategically slightly suspect, but Fridman no doubt saw White's next, but 3 ...dx c4!? 4 bxc4 es is a good way to sur­ thought he had nothing better. The alterna­ prise a Reti player. Probably not Kramnik, tive was 20 ...gxf6, but after 21 tLlf4 tLleS however, who would no doubt have been 22 tLlhS bS 23 cxbS axbS 24 :M6 he can­ happy with the long-term advantage of an not have liked the loss of the f6-point, al­ extra centre pawn. though here Black is still fighting after 4 g3 ile7 5 i..g2 0-0 6 0-0 cs 7 ii.b2 24 ... c41. tt:Jc6 8 e3 b6 9 tLlc3 dxc4 21 l::txf6 ! gxf6 22tLlf4tLle5 Fridman makes the on c4 af­ ter all, but this and his next couple of moves only seem to play into White's hands. The main line is, of course, 9 ...i. b7, but after 10 cxdS exdS 11 d4 tLle4 1 2 dxcS tt:Jxc3 1 3 ilxc3 bxcS 14 'i'e2 l:!.e8 1 S J:lfd1 White Kramnik continues to play with great nonetheless enjoyed an edge in Kramnik­ verve as he crashes through. Jones, London 201 2 (see pp.23-24 of the 29 ...exd S February CHES S). He could hardly decline the knight as 10 bxc4 'ii'd3 11 tt:Je1 'ii'd7 12 'ii'e2 shown by 29 ...l:!.a7 30 'l/i/xf6 ! threatening i.b7 13 f4 31 t2Jg7+, or if 30... tt:J xf6 31 tt:Jhxf6#. 30 ii.xf6 tt:Jes The threat was 31 ii.g7 'l/i/e7 32 tLlf6+ and 30... tt:J xf6 was impossible on account of 31 tt:Jxf6+ @e7 32 '!i'eS#. 31 'l/i/xeS+Wd7 Plugging the long diagonal for the time By returning the piece Black has staved being, but it's clear that Black's vulnerable off mate for now, but it's clear that his king kingside and dark squares give White excel­ won't be long for this world. lent for . 32 ilg7J:l:e8 33 tt:Jf6+Wc7 34 'l/i/a11- 0 23 tLlhS'l/i/e7 24 J:H1 Black cannot save his queen. Forcing the knight off the long diagonal as Black hardly wants to go 24.. .fS? when The seventh round was to prove pivotal 25 tLla4! tLlxg4 26 h3 effectively traps the in Westphalia. Just as in the Tai Memorial, steed. Kramnik was surprisingly outplayed by his 24 ... tt:Jd7 25 'l/i/g2 h6 26 h4 young compatriot Dmitry Andreikin, who The 14th World Champion threatens a had up to then been lurking at the foot of Not only has White driven the queen timely breakthrough with g4-g5, possibly the table. Adams, though, suffered no such back, but he is already able to expand with after a preliminary sacrifice on f6. At first problems as he powered past Khenkin. this thematic Reti advance. Perhaps Fridman 2 6 tLle4 tt:Jxe4 2 7 'l/i/xe4 looks like a rather was hoping that the resulting positions tempting alternative, but after the calm M.Adams-1.Khenkin wouldn't suit Kramnik, but if so he was to be 27 ... 'ii'd6! 28 tLlxf6+ (28 i.xf6 tLlxf6 29 in for a nasty shock. tt:Jxf6+ @f8 doesn't seem to give White Round 7 13... l:!.fdB 14 J;!.d1 tLlb4 15 d3 quite enough since d3 is falling) 28 ... tt:Jxf6 Caro -Kann Defence Once again wisely keeping Black out of 2 9 J::l.xf6 'ii'xd3 White has nothing better d3. than 30 l:!.g6+ fxg6 31 'i'xe6+ @f8 32 1 e4 c6 2 d4 dS 3 tLld2 dxe4 4 tt:Jxe4 15... ii.xg2 16 tt:Jxg2 a6 17 a3 tt:Jc6 18 'ii'f6+ We8 33 'l/i/e6+ and perpetual check. ii.fS 5 tLlg3 ii.96 6 h4 h6 7 tLlf3tLlf6 !? g4 tt:Je8?! 26 ... @fS? A slightly controversial choice. The very Stepping out of the way of the g-pawn, A highly understandable decision, but solid main line is, of course, 7 ...tt:J d7 8 hS but he should have preferred 1 8 ....1:.abS, and with White yet to have a concrete threat i..h7 9 i..d3 i..xd3 10 'i1Vxd3 t2Jgf6.

10 September 201 3 8 CZJes 17... e6?! London Classic, Kramnik also faced Adams Adams is quick to pinpoint the downside Rather compliant. As he showed during a with black and was happy to draw in a Berlin, to Black's last and the players now head successful defence against Kramnik in round revealing that he considered Adams too down something of a forcing line. 3, Khenkin is normally somewhat more solid much of an expert in his more unbalanced, 8 ... ..th7 9 ..td3 ctJbd7 than this. White will get in on the kingside second-string choice, the Pirc. To be fair to Note that 9 ...... txd3 10 'i!Vxd3 ctJbd7 after the text, so 17... eS should have been Kramnik, in Dortmund he did manage to avoid doesn't fully solve Black's problems in view preferred, and if 18 ..te3 ...te7 19 'IWhS+ the Berlin and to surprise Adams, but the of 11 CZJg6!. '/Wf7! 20 'li'xeS 0-0 with a bit of play for the English no.1 was still able to reach a safe 1 O ..txh7 CZJxeS 11 dxeS 'il'a S+ 12 Wf1 pawn. drawing haven without too much effort. CZJxh7 13 e6! 18 ...te3 ..te7 19 ..td4

White's king looks a little misplaced and Black falls victim to his shattered struc­ - M . Adams V . Kramnik Black's position very solid after 1 3 f4 e6 ture and poor king position after 19... eS 20 followed by regrouping the knight via f8. 'il'hS+, but Khenkin's next allows White to Round 9 Thus Adams offers the e-pawn to severely invade down the g-file rather than the e-file. Sio!ian Defence cramp the black position. 19 ... 'li'g6 13 ...'li'dS Once again I suspect that 1 9 ... eS was a 1 e4 cs 2 CZJf3 96 This had been played before, but isn't better try, although after 20 'il'hS+ 'il'f7 21 The Hyper-Accelerated Dragon. A first totally convincing. That said, it's not too 'il'xf7 + Wxf7 22 ..txeS one's money would for Kramnik, although play soon transposes clear what to suggest other than that Black be on Adams to convert with his legendary to a c3 Sicilian after his unusual third move. should avoid debating this particular line. technique. 3 c3 ctJf6 !? 4 eS CZJdS S d4 cxd4 6 cxd4 After 13.. .fxe6 14 'li'e2 Black's position is 20 .l:!.g3'il'fS 21 l:txg7 l::f8 ..tg7 frankly disgusting with 14. 'IWdS (or 14... 0- The machine indicates the tactical try If he was really determined to win, Black 0-0 1 5 '/Wxe6+ 'it>b8 16 ..tf4+ Wa8 17 21 0-0-01? 22 l:txe7 'il'b5+ 23 Wg1 'il'b4, should have challenged in the centre with­ ctJe2, leaving White in complete control) 1 5 but after 24 'li'g4 V/Jixe7 25 ..b h8 J::xh8 26 out delay: 6 ...d6, and if 7 '¥Wb3 dxeS 8 CZJxeS c4 'i!Vd6 16 ...txh6!, and if 16... gxh6 17 I!.e1 White is once again a clear pawn up. CZJc6 The text may also look logical, but it 'il¥h5+ Wd7 18 J::!.d1 one illustration of the 22 'li'g4l:.dS 23 .l:.e1 allows Adams to fight for the initiative. dangers awaiting his undeveloped position. 7 'il'b3 1 4 exf7 + 'li'xf7 An awkward move to face. Kramnik would rather not weaken his light squares with the ugly 7 ...e6 and presumably the retreat to c 7 didn't appeal either. 7 ...CZJb6 8 a4!

Black's position is a shambles, down a pawn and having to defend against White's 1 S CZJe41 more active pieces. A simple but strong novelty. Previously, 23 ...nd6 24 c3 hs 2s 'li'g6+ @da 26 1 5 hS CZJf6 1 6 �M es 1 7 'li'e2 0-0-0! had 'il'xfS 1:!.xfS27 J:tg8+Wd7 28 g3 offered Black good counterplay in Classic Adams, taking the time to tidy the Michalczak-Bartel, European Championship, kingside and so threatening to capture on Threatening to trap the knight and pretty Kusadasi 2 006, as had 1 5 'i1Vf3 'lWxf3 1 6 a7. much forcing the line that now occurred. gxf3 e6 17 ..tf4 ...te7 18 ..tes 0-0 19 f4 28... cs 29 ..te3..tf6 30 J:l.f8a6? 8 ... d6 9 as ...te6 l::ad8 in Kovalev-Dreev, European Champi­ A final mistake, but after 30 ...@ e7 31 9 ...ctJ 6d7 was the only real way to play onship, Legnica 201 3. J:l.a8 a6 32 l:tb8gd7 33 l:'!.c8b6 34 �a8 as on, but after 10 CZJgS e6 11 a6!? White 1 S ...ctJf6 3 5 l:1.b8 Black's pawns would have been must be for choice. An alternative was 1 5 ...'VW dS, but after weakened even further. 10 'il'bS+ ild7 11 'i¥b3 ..te6 12 'il'bS+ 16 '¥We2 ctJf6 1 7 CZJxf6+ (or 17 ctJc3 fol­ 31 l:tf7+ 1-0 ..td713 'il'b3..te6 14 'il'bS+ ..td7Y,-Y, lowed by l:th3) 17... gxf6 18 c4 'VWfS 19 The pin down the f-file decides in the ..te3 White enjoys a pleasant edge since event of 31 ...@ c6 (to protect both b 7 . and Undoubtedly Dortmund was Adams's queenside would drop the a 7-pawn. cS) 32 ..tf4 e5 33 ..tgs. greatest success for some years. Indeed, his 16 CZJxf6+'il'xf6? 2923 rating performance netted him some The former Russian Grandmaster likely A point clear, Adams was happy to solidly 21 rating points which has sent him soaring underestimated White's next. Black's had to hold Meier with the black pieces in the eighth back up the world rankings to the 1 2th spot. prefer 16... exf6 17 l:th3 ..te7 with reason­ round. Even though Kramnik eventually and Our congratulations to Mickey, while we able chances to resist after ... fS and ... ..tf6. rather impressively ground down Caruana in should leave the final word to the vanquished 17 gh3! 76 moves, the Russian cannot have been Kramnik: "Adams's win was fully deserved. A highly-effective rook lift. Adams pre­ optimistic about his chances ahead of the He's a very strong player. It's not for nothing pares to hit the black queen as well as to final-round clash of the leaders. Needing a that for the past two decades he's been create heavy pressure down the e-file. win to catch Carlsen in the last round of the among the best players in the world." www.chess.co.uk 11 David Howell Dominates in Torquay

When the British Championships last visited fianchettoed bishops exert pressure on Torquay in 2009, David Howell ran out a wor­ D.Howell-P. Wells Black's position. Wells now gives up a pawn thy winner. Four years on could he add a sec­ to obtain some counterplay, but it doesn't ond title or would his main rival, the reigning Round 6 prove fully sufficient. champion Gawain Jones, prevail? Nobody Reti Op ening seemed sure. However, when the event got underway Howell made all the running - 1 c4 e6 2 g3 d5 3 ..tg2 dxc4 opening up a half-point lead by the rest day Now White often regains his pawn with and then rapidly pulling away from the chasing 4 �a4+, but Howell doesn't mind suffering pack. some structural discomfort to obtain the Howell sprinted out of the blocks, fol­ bishop-pair. lowing up an opening round victory against 4 tt:la3!? ..txa3 5 bxa3 tt:le7 the Birmingham amateur Alex Richardson Wells never seems to quite equalise, so with wins against Jack Rudd, Chris Ward and perhaps S ...c3 should be preferred, as in an Yang-Fan Zhou, who were all smoothly out­ earlier game, Joksic-Legky, San Bernardino played. The Howell express slowed for a 201 2, where 6 dxc3 �xd1 + 7 �xd1 tt:ld71 8 short stop when Black against his sometime f4 tt:lgf6 9 tt:lf3 tt:Jcs 1 o tt:Jes tt:lfe4 11 Wc2 second Stephen Gordon in round S before b6 was quite comfortable for Black. Of resuming full speed ahead of the rest day. course, though, White doesn't have to allow the queens to be removed and Fed Rat Perf Pts after, say, 6 °iVc2!? cxd2+ 7 8 ... e5!? 1 David Howell (ENG) 2639 2768 9Y, ..txd2 tt:lf6 8 J;l.d1 c6 8 ...� d6 was a solid alternative, but after 2 (ENG) 2SSS 2593 8 (8 .tt:Jbd7? 9 ..tas leaves the 9 tt:lgS tt:lfS 1 0 't\Yxc4 eS 11 l:tc1 White 3 Stephen Gordon (ENG) 2S21 2574 8 white bishops in full control) 9 must be slightly for choice. 4 Gawain Jones (ENG) 2643 25 14 8 tt:lf3 tt:lbd7 1 0 0-0 0-0 11 9 tt:Jxe5 tt:lxe5 10 ..txe5 tt:lc6 11 ..txc6 5 Peter Wells (ENG) 2479 2483 7Y, ..tf4 he enjoys decent, Cata­ bxc6 12 �xc4 6 Yang-Fan Zhou (ENG) 2469 2474 7Y, lan-style play for his pawn. And so White has grabbed a pawn, but 7 (ENG) 2444 2468 7Y, 6 ..tb2 will he be able to hold his light squares to­ 8 (ENG) 2496 2459 7Y, A useful novelty, although gether? At first matters don't seem so clear, 9 Bogdan Lalic (CRO) 2489 2440 7Y, whether either player was but those extra centre pawns are going to 10 (ENG) 24S6 2372 7Y, aware of that wasn't clear come in handy. 11 Ameet Ghasi (ENG) 24S9 2495 7 from the clock times. 6 �a4+ 12... 1:!.e8 13 ..tf4..te6 14 'lic3 ! 1 2 Richard Palliser (ENG) 24S3 2452 7 had been preferred in no Returning the pawn to improve his cen­ 13 Daniel Fernandez (SIN) 2346 2429 7 tral situation. Instead, 14 �c2?! ..tds 1 S 14 Richard Weaving (ENG) 2196 2424 7 lesser game than Salov­ l:.g1 (naturally 1 S 0-0 J:!.xe2 is hardly what 1 5 Alexander Longson (ENG) 2279 2392 7 Yusupov, Linares 1 990, but tt:l ..t White wants to be doing) 1 S ...'li e7 16 �d3 16 Gyula Meszaros (HUN) 22SS 2384 7 after 6 ... bc6 7 b2 es 8 '¥Y ..t � 17 Chris Ward (ENG) 2432 2334 7 xc4 e6 9 a4 0-0 1 0 l;;i;.ad8 would have left Black with excellent tt:l .t 18 Neil Carr (ENG) 2290 2209 7 f3 . dS Black didn't have compensation. 19 Dietmar Kolbus (GER) 2288 2382 6Y, any problems. 20 Simon Williams (ENG) 2481 2379 6Y, 6 ... 0-0 21 (ENG) 2S17 2371 6Y, In view of what occurs, 22 Tony Kosten (FRA) 24S8 235 1 6Y, the immediate 6 ... eS!? de­ 23 Charlie Storey (ENG) 2214 2347 6Y, serves attention. After 7 24 Jean-Luc Weller (ENG) 2172 2329 6Y, ..txeS 0-0 8 tt:lf3 tt:lbc6 9 25 Matthew Wadsworth (ENG) 2136 2325 6Y, ..tb2 I dare say Howell would 26 Andrew Horton (ENG) 2032 23 15 6Y, have been happy with his 27 Terry Chapman (ENG) 2308 23 14 6Y, bishops, but at least Black can 28 Marcus Osborne (ENG) 2269 2283 6Y, look to exert some pressure 29 Jack Rudd (ENG) 2280 2254 6Y, down the central files after 30 David Eggleston (ENG) 2363 2246 6Y, 9 ....t fS when he may not be 31 John Emms (ENG) 2469 2234 6Y, doing so badly. 32 Marcus Harvey (ENG) 2202 2225 6Y, 7 °iVc2 tt:lbc6 8 tt:lf3 33 Richard Bates (ENG) 237S 22 11 6Y, The opening has gone 34 Rufus Duff (ENG) 21 S7 2198 6Y, well for Howell. He is about to 35 Francis Rayner (WLS) 2186 2166 6Y, regain his pawn and both 14... ..txa 2

12 September 201 3 A little trick which makes use of the po­ .txa7 f4 would obtain some counterplay, been completely outplayed and even the tential on dS, but Howell has matters but after 22 l:!.b1 J:!.e8 (and not 22... l:.h6? presence of opposite-coloured bishops ap­ under control. 23 l:tb8) 23 J.:.ib4 White seems to remain in pears rather unlikely to save him with 15 f3 .ids 16 Wf2 fS control of the situation. Howell's choice is queens and rooks still on. Further weakening his dark squares, but also good and even more prudent, avoiding 24... 'il'e6 25 'l&'d4?1 he could hardly allow White to expand in the any possibility of ...f4 for the time being. This allows Black a bit of counterplay. centre unopposed. 21 ...as 22 l:tb7 'iY'c8 23 �a7 l::.!.e8 24 Moreover, there was nothing wrong with 17 J;lab1 l:Ixas 25 l:!.a7, since 25 ...f 4!? 26 gxf4 (26 ..txf4? Black's pressure down the central files .ic4 27 'iY'e3 �g6 28 .ieS 'l&'hS would be a might have looked a little annoying, but it little sub-optimal for White) 26... 'i4V e7 27 has been neutralised and now it turns out 'it>g2 should see Black coming up short on that the b-file is the most important file of the kingside. them all. 25 ...gS! 17... J:!.bS Wells seizes his chance to complicate Wells settles in for a long defence. At the struggle. first 17... 'l&' e7 18 l:!.he1 l:!.ab8?! may appear 26 !'l.a7f4 27 gxf4 more natural, but after 19 �xb8 .l:!.xb8 20 e4 fxe4 21 fxe4 .if7 2 2 'l&'xc6 White is a pawn ahead and in complete control. 18 l:txb8'l&'xb8 19 il..e3I White has his eye on a rather useful long-term asset: an extra, outside passed a­ pawn. 19... J;l.e6 20 'il'd3'il'fS !? 21 l:tb1 Wells was no doubt hoping that 21 Finally picking off the target. Black has

27 ...�h3 The alternative was 27 ... 'il'h6!?, with the idea of 28 Wg1 gxf4 29 'i4Vxf4 (and not 29 il..xf4? �h4) 29 .'l&'xf4 30 .txf4 l::.!.xe2. After 31 a4 il.xf3 32 aS il..dS White's a­ pawn remains a major trump, but Black is not without chances to hold, especially in the case of 33 l:xc7l:tg 2+ 34 @f1 .l:Ig7. 28 @91 l:!.b8? The threatened invasion is easily re­ buffed and now Black comes up short. Wells had to find 28 ...'i4V h4, and if 29 ..tf2 'i4Vxf4 30 �xf4 gxf4 31 @f1 il..b3! 32 J:!.xc7 il..d1 33 �xc6 I;lxe2 when White would have had to demonstrate some rather good technique to convert his extra two pawns. 29 'l&'a 1 ! �fs Black may have initially intended 29 ...g4, but after 30 l::.!.xc7 it's his king which is the one most in the firing line. 30 '1&'e5 l:!.b1+ 31 wf2 1-o

If there was ever a moment when How­ ell might wobble, it was at the start of the second weekend when he had to save a worse endgame against Mark Hebden and also appeared to be in some trouble against Simon Williams.

S.Williams- D.Howell Round 8

We join play at the . White's grip on the d-file and Alekhine's gun forma­ David Howell - a con vincing winner with an excellent 9J2/ 1 1. tion gives him a pleasant edge, but it's clear www.chess.co.uk 13 that it will be far from easy to break through Inch by inch White is making progress, .tfS 50 i.e3 Black's solid defences. but he is still a long way from breaking the Having toyed with Howell a little, Wil­ solid defence. liams gets back on track. 45 ... \\Wc6 50 ..JkS 51 .l:tb3 This simple challenge was fairly strong back at move 46, as we've noted, and the only things that have changed are the other rook and the black king moving a square each. 51 ...l:Ixb3 ! This remains the best and a well-judged defence. 52 axb3 a6

41 lt:Jd5 Wg7 Howell is content to wait and not do anything stupid. Many weaker players would 46 'tll'c3 have lashed out with 41 ...fS, but this likely There's no need for White to hurry, so just weakens Black's king more than it at­ Williams retreats his queen for now. A rather tacks White's. Here 42 itgS would be sim­ logical alternative was 46 l:tb3 and after ple and good, and even 42 exfS i.xf5 43 46 ... J;l.xb3 (not an ideal exchange for Black, l:'tb3e4 44 fxe4 k!.xb345 \\Wxb3 i.xe4 46 but 4 7 .l:!.db2 isquite an awkward threat for l:i.f2 mayfavour the first player. him to deal with; moreover, 46 ...l:lcb8? 4 7 42 'ii¥c1 ! J:!:db2 J:l.xb3 48 J::txb3 J:l.xb3 49 axb3 .flxdS The gun has done its work for the time 50 cxd5 il'b6 51 'iVa4 would merely lead to being, so Williams switches his major pieces a rather unpleasant endgame in which White 53 ttJc3! in a bid to probe on the queenside. will combine threats on the kingside with Unfortunately for White, 53 ga 1 lib8 42... l:1.c6 43 \\Wa3 �es 44 \\Wa4 J:kS 45 advancing the d-pawn) 4 7 axb3 a6 48 l:ta2 54 �xa6 was no longer so good: 54... il' xa6 il'a5 White is definitely pressing. One presumes 55 .l:.xa6 i.xd5 56 exd5 J:l.xb3 and with his that Black would king closer to the centre, Black can defuse have to try 48 ...l:1. b8, 57 ga7+ with 57 ...� eS. The text wins a but after 49 �xa6 pawn and is strong, although one might also 'tll'xa6 50 l:t'.xa6 make a good case for the sadistic 53 .l:!.d3 itxd5 51 exd5 .S.xb3 followed by 'iid2 and a further spell of 52 Jtg1 White is heavy manoeuvring which would have been definitely pressing. quite unpleasant for the defender. This has already been 53 ... �bS 54 ttJa4Ii:: xb3 55 Jtxc5i. h6! rather a long varia­ Rightly giving up the a-pawn to keep tion, but the end­ pieces on and counterattack. game which has 56 l:td6'ii b7 57 l:txa6 arisen is interesting This appears rather strong, but Howell and not too atypical, had anticipated the move and prepared the so I'll continue it: only defence. 52 ...J:!.b4 53 d6 57 ... 'iid7 58 l:.id6

J;txc4 54 J:ia7 + �g8 Slightly impractical. It was well worth 55 d7 Jte7 56 .l:!.c7 removing the rooks with 58 .l:ia7 and after :xh4+ 57 �g3 f5 58 ... i:;tb7 59 .l:!.xb7 'iVxb7 60 lt:lb6 White 58 .bes .tg5 59 would have enjoyed good chances to exploit l:tc6 �f7 60 Jtb6 his extra pawn, and without too much risk. li(h1 61 d8'tll' h4+ 62 Williams may well, though, have wanted to �f2 i.xd8 63 .txd8 exploit Howell's typical lack of time in the h3 64 gxh3 l:Ixh3 run-up to move 60, but one must never and most likely Black underestimate David when short of time. can draw thanks to Indeed, he often seems to play better with the great reduction JUSt seconds than when he has oceans of in the number of time. pawns. 58 ...'ii b7 59 ..tb6? 46 ...l:IeS 47 litd1 It wasn't too late to go back with 59 Wf7 48 ..tc1 .i:ta6, but Williams may have forgotten that A slightly myste­ his own king's defences weren't exactly rious move, but as ideal. we've seen, Williams 59 ... \\We7! is in no hurry. Howell didn't have much time to find Th e ever-dangerous Simon Williams overpressed 48 ... .tg7 49 'iia5 this move, but his natural instinct to attack against Da vid Howell's rock solid defence.

14 September 201 3 certainly didn't desert him in his hour of The bishop was taboo as shown by 62 Stephen Gordon and Mark Hebden both need. gxf4? 'iYxh4+ 63 li.>g2 fxe4 when Black's also finished on 8 points which was worth 60 i..c7?? pieces pour in on the kingside, and neither £1 667. The former was generally impres­ A rather odd move, but Williams too was would 62 'iYe1 have saved White on ac­ sive, suffering just one blip when he walked low on time. It may also appear harsh to count of the neat 62 ... J:[b1!. into a rampaging Simon Williams the day denote the move as a blunder, but suddenly 62... i.xg 3 before Williams lost to Howell and then White just seems to be lost. A much better Also rather strong would have been rather collapsed, while the latter fought try was 60 l:tc6, continuing the counterat­ 62 ...fxe4. hard as ever and had to be at his resourceful tacking theme, and after 60 ... l:ta3 (60 ...f5 ? 63 °iVd2 best to survive lost positions in the last two 61 .l:!.c7 i.d7 62 °iVd5+ lites 63 'iYg8+ is A desperate attempt to land some rounds. Hebden will have happier memories White's point) 61 i..c5 i..f4+ 62 g3 .l:ta2+ checks, but Black's king will be able to hide of his endgame conversion against an old

63 @g1 l:!,a1 + it seems that neither side can on h6. Instead 63 exf5 would have been rival. avoid the repetition. rebuffed by 63 ...� xh4! 64 fxe6+ li.>g7 65 60 ... f5 61 g3 l:td7+ �h6 followed by the demise of the The only try, but while Black might at­ white king. M.Hebden-K.Arkell tempt to destroy this defence with 61 .. .f4, 63... �xh4 64 l::rd7+ li.>98 65 i::t.dS+ @g7 Round 8 he can actually do even better than that. 0-1 61 ...i..f4! After that impressive defence, the Howell ship righted itself, recording smooth wins against Danny Gormally and Ameet Ghasi to reach 9/1 0 and wrap up the title with a round to spare. A most impressive effort, especially if one considers that How­ ell had lost his father, Martin, in the late spring. He dedicated his victory to him in .his winner's speech which came the day after he'd had slightly the better of a tough, final round manoeuvring struggle with the for­ mer champion, Gawain Jones. Jones had appeared in good shape in the Scottish Championships in early July, as Danny Gormally shows later in this issue, but never really got going in the British. Arkell had not handled the time scram­ Having defended patiently for so long, Dave Ledger found a path to a drawing ble too well, but had at least created the Howell now seizes his chance with both combination against the reigning champion's threat of ... i..c1 . Hebden, though, is a mas­ hands. favourite Dragon in round two before Jones ter of small manoeuvres and now parried 62 @g2 completely mucked up a winning endgame any danger in impressive manner. against Charlie Storey. 41 'Lic3 b5 42 'Lixb5 i..c1 43 'Lie1! Despite landing a few Neat. Black will be able to regain his vintage tactical blows pawn, but only in return for allowing his (see this month's Fin d the bishop to be imprisoned in the corner. Winning Moves), Jones 43 ...i.. xb2 44 'Lid3 i..a1 45 ctJf4+ never really recovered 'it>f5?! from that early setback, Unless he wanted to sacrifice a piece although a late run did next move, probably Black should have tried take him back up to the 45. @f7 46 'Lixh5 i..b2 4 7 'Lif4 i..c1 48 top table by the final ctJd3 i..h6 when he would have been fight­ round and a share of sec­ ing an uphill battle to draw, but would at ond. least have been able to obtain a bit of coun- Jones was joined in terplay against a3. joint second by Bogdan Lalic who picked off four weaker players and made seven rather unexciting

draws. Had Bogdan's play -- •..--.� --� -- been a little more inspir­ ing, perhaps one wouldn't be left wondering whether players not registered with any of the home nations (Bogdan still represents Croatia) should be allow to take part in · the British, particularly A , when the number of main .._.Ji,;_'------'----' Mark Hebden - not many people prizes was cut from ten to outplay Keith Arkell in an endgame. seven. 46 'it>f3 www.chess.co.uk 15 Preventing the black king from advanc­ 48 ...i.c1 49 l2ld6+ @gs so l2lf7+ @fs The 11 year-old Kalaiyalahan spent her ing further and leaving that important piece 51 g4# 1-0 mornings during the second week winning down to just one square. the British U-1 2 Championship (see Home 46 ...lLJfS? If Arkell didn't defend as well as normal News) , and must have been rather tired Arkell is unable to find a defence, but there, it may be that he was still psychologi­ when she received a rather useful final the ever resourceful engine appears correct cally affected by the pairing: this was Heb­ round fillip as her scheduled opponent, that 46 ... i.xd4! was well worth a try. den's fifth white and Arkell's fifth black from David Collier, withdrew with illness on the There's little doubt that Keith considered it, eight games! Congress Director Lara Barnes morning of the game. That was unfortunate but after 4 7 l2lxd4+ �xeS 48 l2ldxe6 isn't was quick to apologise for her fellow arbi­ as was arguably Kalaiyalahan's refusal to be Black just a piece down? However, while it's ters' mistake and also suggested that com­ repaired with the 2069-rated Stewart Reu­ not at all easy to realise or calculate in ad­ puter pairings may be used next year to ben, if understandable considering the state vance, his counterplay is just in time: prevent a repeat. Quite possibly a welcome of the ladies' battle. Seeing her rival over­ 48 ...l2l b6 49 l2lc7 l2lc4 50 liJbS d4 51 development. Another would be to do away take her without pushing a pawn must have lLJxhS 'ii

- D . Ledger P . Batchelor Round 6

Chances would be about equal after something sensible like 1 7 g3, but Ledger preferred to lure Black into going after his queen. 17 i.g3!? liJeS Tempting and probably not objectively a mistake, but it seems that Black should have preferred 1 7 ...l2l e3, and only if 1 8 fS lLJeS. After 19 .txeS �xeS 20 f6 l2lxd1 21 l:!.xd1 i.d7 White has some but probably not quite Dave Ledger played some lively chess in Torquay enough for the exchange.

16 September 201 3 29.•• l:tc7 30 J:!.h8+�e7 31 l:i:.ch1 �xeS 32 J::l.1h7+ @d6

18 fxeS ! ! 1:!.xf3 19 gxf3 .id7 20 h4 Retreating the knight without delay, but The point of Ledger's deep idea be­ he really needed to challenge the steed on comes clear: White is going to attack the Losing the queen, but it would have dS, and now Black will be able to meet rather undefended black kingside. Mean­ been mate after 32 ..@ xf6 33 �f8+ @gs tllxe 7 with ...'il' xe 7. while Batchelor will struggle to put his extra 34 .ih4#. 10 J:!.e1 queen to particularly good use. 33 i.g3 tllxd3 34 cxd3 1-0 Warman is happy to gradually increase 20 ... .ia4 21 Wb1 1:!.c8 22 lk1 Ji.as the pressure. In an earlier game White had tll � i. The machine rather underestimates S.Warman-D.Ledger preferred 10 xe7?! xe7 11 gS, but White's compensation, but may have a point after 11. . . 0-0 12 i.dS i.b7 13 �e1 h6 14 that 22 ...'i¥ e7 23 f4 (23 hS gS keeps lines Round 9 dxeS hxgS 1 S exf6 �xf6 Black gradually relatively closed) 23 ...i. e8 was worth a try, Ruy Lopez consolidated his extra pawn in Lengyel­ although after 24 hS one still has to rather Citak, Budapest 201 1. like White's initiative. 1 e4 es 2 tllf3 tllc6 3 .ibS a6 4 .ia4 1 o .....ltg4?! 23 hS tllf6 S 0-0 i.e7 6 tllc3 !? Too optimistic. Black should have settled This straightforward developing move for 1 0 ... 0-0 when it's not clear whether was once employed by the likes of Morphy, White has anything better than 11 dxeS Lasker and espe­ cially Tarrasch, but is now a rare visitor to the tournament hall. We are all taught nowadays now to obstruct the c-pawn in the Span­ ish, but can the move really be any worse than the trendy 6 d3? 6 ...bS 7 i.b3 d6 8 tlldS 23 ....ic3? The only real way to It's hard to blame Batchelor for trying to challenge Black who counterattack, but Black will come up just now faces quite a short after this. For better or worse, he had wide choice, with to prefer 23 ...gS and after, say, 24 J:!.hg1 8 ...tll aS and 8 ... ..ltb 7 (24 tllxgS? 'il'b6 gives Black some rather his two most com­ useful play of his own) 24... @ h8 2 S tllxd4 mon defences. Led­ .ib6 26 tllxe6 'il'c6 the game might ended ger, however, is in an attractive repetition with 27 tll4xgS unable to resist the .ixg1 28 tllf7+ Wg8 29 tllh6+ @h8 30 e-pawn. tllf7 +. 8 ...tll xe4? ! 9 d4 24 hxg6! 'il'b62S tll2xc3 dxc3 26 b4 A more promis­ This may appear a little ropey, but ing path is probably Ledger has spotted an important resource. 9 tllxe7 tllxe7

26 •.•tll xb4 27 i.f2 (9 .. �xe7? 1 o .ids Not just a saving move, but one which forks the black determines that it will be the white attack knights) 10 d4 i.b7 that carries the day. 11 dxeS when 27••• � as 28 tllf6+ �fa 29 J:Ixh7 White must have an The lonely black king is completely over­ edge with his bish­ whelmed and doesn't have long for this ops. world. 9 ...tllf6 Stephen Gordon shared second with 8/ 1 1. www.chess.co.uk 17 dxe5 1 2 lllxe5 lllxe5 1 3 l:txe5 i.d6 14 important bishop; 13... i. xh3!? 14 gxh3 confident at this stage, since 14 i.xa8 I!.e1 c6 1 5 lllxf6+ 'iVxf6 1 6 i.e3 with 'iYxh3 looks quite scary for White, but with 'ii'xa8 would lead to the destruction of rough equality. the calm 15 i.d5, and if 15... �d7 16 lllh2, White's kingside, but he was to be in for a 11 lllxf6+? ! he remains somewhat in front) 1 3 'i!Vd3 nasty surprise. Playing for a little tactic, but 11 h3 ! 'ii'd7 14 1¥xh7 0-0-0, but 15 i.xf7 i.fS 14 lllxd4! ! i.xd1 15 i.c6+ @fa 16 would have been strong, since 11... i. xf3 1 6 'i!Vxg8 .&txg8 1 7 i.xg8 should gradually i.h6+@ gs 17 1!.axd1 (1 1 ....lt hS 12 g4 i.g6 gives White a pleas­ favour White. White has two pieces for the queen and ant choice between 13 lllxe7 'iilxe7 14 g5 12... dxe5 13 i.d5!? menaces a rook lift. Can Black defend? and 1 3 dxe 5 dxe 5 1 4 lllxe 5 lllxe 5 1 5 I!.xe5 A much more active and challenging de­ 17... i.fB? lllxd5 16 I!.xdS .ii.d6 17 i.f4) 12 'l/Vxf3 fence than 1 3 'l/Vd5 'ii'xdS 14 i.xd5 i.d7 This was presumably based on a miscal­ lllxd4 13 lllxc7+! @d7 14 'iYxa8 'iVxa8 15 1 5 a4 followed by a grovel a pawn down. culation, otherwise Ledger would have re­ lllxa8 I!.xa8 1 6 .itd2 shouldn't give Black 13... lll d4 turned the queen with 1 7 ...exd 4! 1 8 i.xa8 enough for the exchange. i.f81 (and not 18.. 'ii'xa8? 19 .:!.xe7 when 11... gxf6?! there's no defence against the threat of 20 Falling for the bluff. 11 ..i .xf6 ! 1 2 I!.de1 and 21 J:!.e8+) 19 ii.c6 .itxh6 20 lllxe5 wasn't to be feared on account of l:!.e8+ @g7 21 .l:!.xd8 l:txd8 when Black 12... dxeS (but not 12... i .xd1 ? 13 lllxc6+) would have found himself a pawn up in an 1 3 'l/Vxg4 lllxd4 when something like 1 4 endgame, albeit one which wouldn't have iLf4 'iile7 15 .bes i.xe5 16 'l/Ve4 0-0 17 been at all easy to win. 'l/Vxe5 '&1xe5 18 nxe5 begins to look quite 1 8 lllf5 i.xh6 drawish. Ledger must have intended 1 8 ...1¥ c8, 12 dxe5?! only now to realise that after 19 i.xa8 1¥xa8 The sub-optimal play continues, but this there's 20 llle 7 + ! i.xe 7 21 l:i:e3 when Black is what can easily happen when the players is completely cleaned up after 21 ...i. f8 2 2 leave the beaten track at an early stage. The l:r.g3+ i.g7 23 .U.xg7+ @f8 24 l::td7. machine points out the calm 1 2 c3 ! when 19 Ii.xd8+ J:i.xdB 20 lllxh6+ �g7 21 Black's position is a bit of a shambles. He lllf5+ @g6? might hope to attack with 12... �g8 It's understandable that Black didn't (1 2 ... '11Vd7 13 h3! prepares to hunt down an Ledger must have been feeling pretty want to obstruct his king's rook, but he had to prefer 21 ... �f8 22 f4 l:!.g8, grim though this would have been. 22 i.e4 Warman needs no second invitation to send forward a new wave of attackers. 22 ...l:!d2 23 h4!

23 ... @h5? This loses, but it's hard to view some­ thing like 23 ... hS 24 J:i.e3 �h7 25 l:ta3 as all that much of an improvement. 24 .l:te3 Threatening 25 llg3 followed by 26 i.f3# and 24.J:ig8 25 i.f3+ Wg6 26 llle7 would, of course, cost Black the exchange. Hence Ledger's desperate next. 24 ... �g4 25 J:,g3+Wf4 26 f3 Completing the mating net. 26 ... h5 27 I!.g7 This will more than do, but it's a slight shame after such a creative effort that Warman didn't spot the neat 27 .&tg4+! hxg4 28 g3#. U-2 1 Ch ampion Va ng -Fan Zhou scored 7Y,/ 1 1 and is clearly going places. 27... l::t hdB 28 g3# 1-0

18 September 201 3 ACO World Amateur Chess Cham pionship 201 4 Amateur Chess Organization Become World Champion in your rating group!

07th - 16th June 201 4 Rhodes (Greece)

- First Equal at the Scottish

Danny Gormally reports from the Scottish Championship in Helensburgh

I want to make an apology to regular read­ played it before in a game and won with it. like a possible improvement, until you see ers of the magazine. They may have been However I had found an improvement on the line 11... cS! 12 .bes tt:Jg4! 13 'ik'g3 given the false impression I only want to Black's play. As Mark opined after the game, �xc3 14 bxc3 'il'c8! with the idea of comment on my own games. After all I did White should probably play 7 d5!. He was ... 'il'a6, when Black is the one making all the report on the recent Big Slick tournament concerned about the reply 7 ... tt:JeS (7 ... tt:Jb8 running. and mainly looked at my own games, de­ is an alternative; although it looks pas?ive 11... cs 1 2 il.e3.!:res spite the fact that Yang-Fan Zhou domi­ Black can always break out with ... c6 or ... e6 Essential, as White intended to play nated the event. However, there is a simple later), but after 8 tt:JxeS dxeS 9 0-0-0 i.h6 and exchange the dark-squared bish­ explanation for this, that hopefully extends White's attacking chances with h4-hS are ops, taking all the sting out of the black beyond a mere need to flatter my own ego: very good, while it is not easy for Black to position. I simply find it so much easier to comment create counterplay on the other wing. 13 il.h6.1lh8 14 ctJgS on my own games, where I already have 7 ...eS! some idea of what was going on, than trying to reconstruct the thought patterns of oth­ ers. So laziness is the real explanation ... Anyway no such guilt need be applied to my report on the Scottish Championships, where by some freak of nature, I managed to come equal first with a 26SO perform­ ance; my best result for about seven years. The Scottish was held in Helensburgh, a beautiful town set on the banks of the River Clyde, and surrounded by many brea'thtak­ ing lochs and hills. I've always found it much easier to play good chess when you are in decent surroundings - it inspires the imagi­ nation. Early on in the event the use of acceler­ Once you've played Mark as many times ated pairings created some controversy, A rare 'human' novelty, as this is not the as I have, you start to get an insight into which is perhaps why they weren't used in engine's first choice. how he thinks. As soon as he played this I the British Championship which followed 8 il.xc6?! realised what he intended to play: he wants soon after, but the tournament really only 8 dxeS tt:JxeS 9 tt:JxeS dxeS 10 'ik'xd8 to play f2-f4. exploded into life in round four. l:!xd8 11 f3 would be the cop-out variation. 14... tt:Jd7! This is similar to another line where White The computer prefers 14... i. d7, but I M.Hebden-D.Gormally has his bishop on c4, which is a definite im­ think my choice is at least the more human. provement for him; with the bishop on b5 I Besides although I did consider retreating Round 4 don't think Black has any problems. the bishop, if I had done so I would not have 8 dS tt:Je7 9 0-0-0 is probably critical, got the chance to attack like I did in the but I discovered in my preparation that after game. 1 d4 lLlf6 2 lLlf3 g6 3 tt:Jc3 i.g7 9 ...a6! 10 il.e2 .1ld7 11 h4 bS 12 a3 .l:!.b8 15 f4 'il'b8 16 J:!.he1? I was eager to avoid the Barry Attack, as Black will have good counterplay with ...aS, Underestimating the strength of the it's much easier to generate active play and so his chances are at least equal. coming attack. Black's idea would have been winning chances in the Pirc than it is in 8 ...ex d4! 9 �xd4 bxc6 10 0-0-0 �e6 revealed after the rash 1 6 fS? .1lxa2 ! when Mark's favourite opening. Indeed everyone 11 h3 the bishop is immune due to , and seemed to follow this pattern in the tour­ Now Black takes over the initiative, but 1 7 b3 il.xb3 1 8 cxb3 'il'xb3 is a real slaugh­ nament, as both Lawrence Trent and Ga­ it is already becoming hard to suggest any­ ter. However, 16 eSI ctJb6 17 b3 dxeS 18 wain Jones went into the Pirc against Mark thing for White. During the game I was con­ J:lhe1 would have kept the game very un­ as well. cerned about central action with 11 eS, but clear. 4 e4 d6 5 i.e3 0-0 6 'il'd2tt:Jc6 7 i.bS this is comfortably refuted by 11 ... tt:Jg41 12 16... tt:Jb6 1 7 b3 Mark sticks to his principles. I was rea­ exd6 �h6 1 3 .1le3 tt:Jxe3 14 fxe3 cxd6 When I recently wrote my magnum sonably confident he'd do this, as he'd with advantage to Black. 11 'ik'f4 also looks opus, Mating the Castled King for Quality

20 September 201 3 ing of the b-file normally dangerous to play the bishop to b7 earlier, spells trouble for White, taking it away from the defence of the d7- and as Mark pointed out, square. his major pieces (queen on d2, rooks on d1 and e1 ) are about as badly placed as they can be, as they merely help to suf­ focate his king. 18... Wii b4 19 ll'lbS As usual, Mark is as tricky as possible. One of the reasons he's been one of the top players in the UK for so many years is that he's just so hard to put away. Fortunately my position is so good that only some accuracy was required to finish off. 12Wiie1 ? 19... lll b2 20 Wiie2 This looks the most natural from a hu­ i..c4! man point of view, not blocking the bishop's lll @ 20... xd1 21 xd 1 !, . path to bS, but the silicon beast only deals in while surely very good absolutes, not in generalisations, and frowns for Black, would at least upon this choice. As Gawain explained later, keep the game alive. he could have won on the spot with the 21 bxc4 lllxc4 2 2 c3 computer suggestion 1 2 Wi/e2!: 'il'xbS 23 eS .l::!.ab8 24 a) 12... cxbS 13 lllxeS �d6 14 .l:!.xd6! Wiic2 Wiias 2S a4 l:tb2 lllxd6 1 5 i..gS I is crushing. 26 'i'xb2 lllxb2 27 b) Lines like 12... Wii aS 13 lllxeS! lllxeS @xb2 Wi/xa4 28 exd6 1 4 Wiihs 11 offer little salvation either. 28 l:!.a1 l:!.b8+ wins a 12... cxbS 13 i..xbS rook. Nevertheless, White still has a very ob­ 28 ... 'li'b4+0-1 vious, and possibly just winning attack. 13... i£.d6 14 lllxeS The tournament was 14 J::l.xg7! Wiif6 15 .1£.xd7+ We7

blown wide open in the (1 5 . . Wf8 16 I:lg4 Wiixf3 1 7 J::!.xe4 .1£.xe4 18 Danny Gormally tied for first in Helensburgh. same round, when heavy J:txd6 is also very good for White) 16 J::!.xd6 pre-tournament favour­ Wiixd6 1 7 .1£.fS was a very good alternative, Chess, I was asked by Jacob Aagaard to do a ite, the reigning British when White has an enduring attack in return section on Black attacking with the ma­ Champion Gawain Jones, surprisingly lost for a very small material investment. noeuvre . lllb6-c4. I'm glad he did, because with the white pieces to the Serbian 14... i.xeS 1 S .U.xd7 Wiixd7 16 .1£.xd7+ it made my next move very easy to find. Grandmaster Aleksa Strikovic. @xd7 17 'i'as

G.Jones-A.Strikovic Round 4 PhJ/1dor Defence

1 e4 d6 2 d4 lllf6 3 lllc3 es 4 lllf3 lllbd7 s g4 This highly aggressive wing-attack has been popularised by Shirov, amongst others. S ... lllxg4 6 .li1.g1 lllgf6 7 i..e3 c6 8 'i'd2 bS 9 0-0-0 i..b7? In light of what occurs, 9 ... b4 1 0 dxeS dxeS 11 i..c4 WiiaS looks an obvious im­ provement for Black. 10 dxeS dxeS 11 lllxbS ! 17... lll c4! Gawain goes straight for the throat. White has won the queen and Black's Crushing. was most impressed by his ultra-aggressive, king is roaming around in the centre of the 18 Wiid3 uncompromising style in this tournament - board, not to mention that Strikovic was 18 bxc4 (1 8 Wiie2 i..xc3 19 lllxe6 he really goes after people. White opens facing a rampant Gawain, a tactical genius, Wilb4! is also mating) 18... Wiib4 19 eS 'i'a3+ lines when Black is far from prepared for it who is fully motivated to win the game. 20 @b1 J::tab8+ 21 lllbS litxbS+ 22 cxbS as his development is lagging. Black's task may on the face of it look hope­ Wiixa2+ 23 @c1 'li'a1 # is one nice line that 11... lll xe4 less, but in fact it's not terribly clear, and illustrates how strong Black's attack is. Basi­ 11... cxbS 12 i..xbS J:tc8 13 lllxeS .l::!.c7 from this point on Strikovic defends ex­ cally once he's castled queenside, any open- 14 i..gS is an illustration of why it was so tremely well. www.chess.co.uk 21 28 @c1 ?? bishop back to d3, etc. Black's main strate­ Even 2650-rated gic weapon is the smothering of White's players are human! 28 minor pieces, particularly the bishop on e2. lt>c3 .l:!:c8+ 29 lt>b2 was 9 a4 ..tf51 o o-o ..td6 just a draw. I don't know if Gawain prepared the fol­ 28 ... .U.b1+! lowing line at home, but this turns into a Ouch. The game has very poor practical choice, as for a small turned on its head. material investment, White gains a huge 29 Wxb1 i.xa2+ 30 attack. Wxa2 l:i'.xd4 31 @b3 1 o ...ltJ f6 11 ..ltb2 i.d6 1 2 ttJes l:lc8 We6 32 c3 .l:!:e4 33 c4 was a solid alternative. f6 34 i..h4 lhf4 35 11 axb5 axb5 1 2 l:rxa8 'i/Vxa8 1 3 bxc4 ..tg3 �g4 36 Wb4 f5 bxc4 37 i.f2a6 0-1

As I suggested to Gawain after the game, perhaps his blunder was a direct consequence of the fact that he had been winning earlier; you be­ come frustrated that you didn't finish your oppo­ nent off, take your eye off the ball completely, and end up with the worst possible result. In the fifth round I won an important game against the very promis­ 14 ..ltxc4! ing young Icelandic An inspired sacrifice. For the piece White player, Hj orvar Gretars­ gets two pawns plus a slow-burner of an son. So at that point I was attack, which is extremely difficult to de­ clear in the lead, but at fend against. the same time I expected 14... dxc4 15 ttJxc4 'IWdS 16 d5 ttJce7 An uncharacteris tic blunder fr om Gawain Jones. Gawain to come back in 1 7 'iVd4 tLlf6 18 i.g5 0-0 19 .itxf6 17... .l:theS 18 J:!.d1+ @cs 19 'iVb5 ltJf6 the second half of the gxf6 20 'ii'xf6 i.cS? 21 d6 20 i. g5?! tournament, which of course he did. By After 20 'iVc4+! @b8 21 i.f4 i.xf4+ round seven it was clear I needed to win 22 'ilixf4+ @cs 23 'ifc4+ Wb8 24 'iVxf7 as against the tough Scottish Grandmaster 25 'iVxg7 lita6 26 'iVg3+ Wa7 27 f4 the Colin McNab, who himself was fighting for extra pawns should ultimately prove deci­ the Scottish title. I have had many hard bat­ sive. tles with Colin; even when his position looks 20... l:Ie6 21 'iVc5+ i.c6 22 f4 ltJd7! 23 desperate, he will keep fighting and find .lhd7 i.xb2+ 24 @xb2 'it>xd7 25 'iVd4+ hidden resources. This time there were l:td6 26 �xg7 i.d5 many adventures, but ultimately I somehow Perhaps worn out by his opponent's emerged with the full point. That left me on tough resistance, Gawain wanders into a 6/7 with two rounds to go, but Jones was devious trap. like an angry fly, always buzzing around, 27 "iVd4? refusing to go away, and he closed the gap 27 a4! J.:l.c8 28 'iVe5 would still have of­ to half a point with a smooth win against fered White very good winning chances. the Hungarian Grandmaster Ivan Farago. 27 ... J:!.bS+ 21 ... ..ltxc2? G.Jones-1.Farago A tactical error under extreme pressure. Round 7 The only way to defend was to try and play French Ta rrasch with the two bishops against the two i knights, albeit two pawns down, with 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 ltJd2 cs 4 ltJgf3 a6 5 21 ... i.g6 22 'iWeS i.b4 23 c3 ltJc6 24 'ii°b5 Ill exdS exd5 6 �d3 c4 ..ltxd6 2 5 'li'xc6 .itf4. However, after the This line is a very ambitious choice by accurate 26 ltJce5 White really should be Black. He needs to be very accurate with his winning. follow-up as those pawns on the queenside 22 't!VgS+! can easily be dismantled, as we'll see in this Farago must have missed this. Now it's game. all over. 7 i.e2 ltJc68 b3 b5 22 ... ltJg6 23 'iVxc5 'li'c8 24 't!Vxc8 l:txc8 8 ...c3 9 ltJf1 ! really plays into White's 25 d7 .l:!.dS 26 ltJb6 ttJfs 27 ttJes i.e4 hands: later his knight will go to g3, the 28 f3 i.b7 29 l:Ic1 ltJe6 30 @f2 Wf8 31

22 September 201 3 ltJc6 .txc6 32 lhc6 @e7 33 z:tca �fa the pride and joy of White's position, the 32 lLixe7 ltJxe7 33 b4 .tdS 34 'iY'b6 e31 34 J;l,xfa ltJxfa 35 rtle3 @da 36 @e4 d6-pawn. The decisive blow. White cannot handle Wc7 37 @es ltJe6 3a ltJdS+ @xd7 39 20... ltJxaS 21 da'iVJ::!. xda 22 'iVxda the opening of the position. lDf6+ rtle7 40 ttJxh7 ltJcs 41 h4 ttJd3+ 42 rtle4 1-0

After a rather wet and quick draw in round eight, I decided to go for a long walk, and ended up trekking five miles up the road in the blazing summer heat. Eventually I even made it as far as the naval base at Faslane, where the UK nuclear deterrent, Trident, is based. I wasn't fooled by the se­ rene surroundings; this is a serious military installation. The submarine port looked rather ominous as it loomed up, the high fence straddled with barbed wire and the signs saying "armed guards patrol these grounds - keep out!"; a scary reminder that within those walls were housed weapons of Perhaps this was Tate's idea when he 35 fxe3 �b2 36 e4 .txe4 37 .!:rxe4 great destructive power. Rather like played 19 .taS?, but if so he had badly 'ii'xc1 + 3a @f2 °i¥d2+ 39 l:te2°i¥d4+ 40 novelties. overestimated his chances. Although for the @f1 J:!.da41 a3 '¥Vf4+0-1 Eventually I tied for first with Gawain on moment Black cannot develop his kingside, 7 /9, but we were joined on that score by his remaining pieces are doing more than a All in all, I would recommend playing the the Hungarian Grandmaster lmre Hera, who good enough job to ensure White cannot Scottish Championships to anyone, espe­ won his last two games, although not with­ develop any initiative. cially if it's held in such a beautiful place as out incident. 22 ...°i¥a 4! 23 �fd1 e5?! Helensburgh. 23... @ g6 24 ltJc3 1Mfb4 25 a3 �xc5 26 b4 '/Wes 27 'i¥xa5 'iVxaS 28 bxa5 .txa3 just Leading Scores: A.Tate-I.Hera looks winning for Black, who has the two 1-3 Danny Gormally, Gawain Jones Round 8 bishops and an armada of pawns. (both ENG), lmre Hera (HUN) 7 /9 24 ltJc3 °i¥b4 25 ltJdS'iY'a4 26 b3? 4 Hjorvar Gretarsson (ISL) 6Y2 A very overambitious winning attempt 5-1 1 Matthew Turner (SCO), Aleksa when short of time and material. Why not Strikovic (SRB), Vlad-Victor Barnaure just come back with 26 ltJc3 when Black (ROM), Alejandro Hoffman (ARG), Ivan would have to show he had something bet­ Farago (HUN), Lawrence Trent (ENG), ter than the repetition? Roddy McKay (SCO) 6 26... 'ii'a3 27 .l:lc3 ltJc6 2a Vi'c7+.te7 29 Scottish Champion: Roddy McKay (see Vi'xb7 Ilea 30 J::!.cc1 .tg4 31 J:le1 .te6 last month 'sEx ecutive Editorial - ed)

17 d6 Tempting as the d6-pawn looks very powerful, but there was something even stronger. Black has got into a horrible mess in the opening with his king wandering around in the middle of the board. When your opponent's king is exposed, you should open lines. To that end, 17 dxe6+1 was

clearly indicated: 17.. . @e8 18 ltJg3! lild8 19 'ih'c3 ..th3 20 0-0 'i¥c6 21 ..te3 ..txe6 22 .i.xe6 1Mfxe6 23 J:!.cd1 just looks very good for White. 17... 'ii' c6 1 a o-o Ika 19 .taS? This is a very serious mistake, after which the game turns around completely. The simple sequence 19 ltJg3! .tg6 20 .tb3 would have left Black in serious diffi­ culties. 19... ltJxc4! 20 d7 Exp erienced FIDE arbiter Alex Mcfarlane helpedor ganised the Scottish Championship and 20 l:lxc4 e5 21 �e3 ..txd6 just drops was responsible fo r the pairings at both it and the British Championship which fo llo wed it www.chess.co.uk 23 Mamedyarov on Top in Beijing

Steve Giddins saw Karjakin collapse in the latest Grand Prix

I hate to boast, but in my report on the Zug 11... tll d7?! Within a few moves, Black's position is a Grand Prix, I wrote with respect to the last S.Karjakin-Wang Hao two Grand Prix events, scheduled for Berlin wreck, so his position needs some attention and Paris, that "it would be a brave man who Round 2 hereabouts. The text is probably the start of would buy an Apex ticket for either city", Pirc Defence the problems. 11... tll b4 looks more natural, given FIDE's record for late venue switches. eliminating the white king's bishop. I think I am right in saying that of the five 1 e4 d6 2 d4 illf6 3 tllc3 g6 4 f4 i..g7 S 12 i..gS i..f6 Grand Prix events played so far, the inaugu­ .td3 And now 1 2 .. .f6 looks like the lesser evil, ral tournament in London is the only one to A slightly unusual move order, the point although it is not especially attractive. have taken place in the city it was originally of which is presumably to avoid the well­ 13 h4 hS?! 14Wif4 .txgS 1 S hxgS '¥Ye7 announced for. known line S illf3 cS 6 dxcS WiaS. 16 i.. bS It was thus no great surprise when I re­ s ...es Things have gone disastrously wrong for ceived an e-mail on 2nd July, informing me The point of White's move order is that Black, who has a weak king and no counter­ that the latest Grand Prix stage would start now after S ... c5 6 dxc5 '¥Ya5, the e4-pawn play. the following day (!), in Beijing. Nor am I is defended, so White can just take on d6. 16... tll b6 17 i..xc6 bxc6 18 illeS tllc4 particularly ill-informed, it seems - as far as Rather than transpose into other Pirc lines 19 tllxc4 .txc4 20 g4

I can tell, that email was the first most other after S ... 0-0 6 illf3, Wang elects to take White's play could hardly be simpler. chess journalists had heard about a Grand the bull by the horns and strike in the centre 20 ....l:!.abS 21 gxhs Wib4 Prix event in Beijing. If FIDE are struggling to at once. attract commercial sponsors for these tour­ 6 dxeS dxeS 7 illf3 exf4 8 i..xf4 0-0 9 naments, surely the solution is obvious - 'ifd2 tllc6 10 0-0-0 i..e6 11 h3 have they approached Lastminute.com? Be that as it may, the Grand Prix circus (somehow the noun seems especially ap­ propriate in this case) duly rolled into the Chinese capital, and the event went off with little visible sign of a last-minute panic. And like all the Grands Prix so far, it was another hugely strong tournament, highly entertain­ ing, and with some first-rate chess. First out of the blocks was Sergey Kar­ jakin, who sprinted off with three straight wins. His round two game against Wang Hao was reminiscent of what tended to happen to Black on the rare occasions anyone played 22 l:rd4 the Pirc-Modern set-up in the 1930s: The only slight blemish from Karjakin's viewpoint. The computer points out that 22 tlla4! is still more incisive (22... '¥Y xa4 23 Beijing Grand Prix 201 3 hxg6 is mate in 11, my silicon friend kindly informs me), but the Russian's choice is Rat. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 Perf. * perfectly adequate to the relatively simple 1 Mamedyarov 2761 0 y, 1 0 y, y, y, 2847 7 * task of dispatching the black king humanely. 2 Grischuk 2780 y, y, y, y, y, y, 0 y, 28 12 6Y, * 22 ... 'ifxb2+ 23 @d2 J:tfd8 24 '¥Yf6 3 Leko 2737 y, y, y, y, y, y, y, y, y, y, 2784 6 * .l:ixd4+ 25 '¥Yxd4 '¥Yb6 4 Topalov 2767 0 y, Y2 1 0 y, y, y, y, 2781 6 * Giving up a whole piece is clearly des­ s Morozevich 2736 1 y, y, 0 0 y, y, 0 y, 2752 SY, * peration, but 2S ...c5 26 '¥Vf6 J:!.b6 27 \WdS+ 6 Karjakin 2776 0 y, 0 0 1 y, y, y, 1 y, 2750 SY, * @g7 28 Wlxc7 is no better. 7 Giri 2734 0 y, y, y, 0 y, y, 0 2753 SY, * 26 'li'xc4 l:!.d8+ 27 @c1 l:ld4 28 '¥Ye2 8 2705 y, 0 y, y, y, y, y, 0 y, 1 2755 SY, * '!Wes 29 illb1 WlxgS+ 30 illd2 1-0 9 lvanchuk 2733 0 y, y, y, 1 y, y, 0 y, 0 2722 s 1 0 Gelfand 2773 y, y, 0 0 y, 0 y, * y, y, 2718 s * After he beat Morozevich with Black in 11 Wang Hao 2752 0 y, y, y, y, 0 1 0 y, y, 2720 s * round three, few would have believed that 12 Kamsky 2763 y, 0 y, y, 0 y, 0 0 y, 0 2618 3Y, KarJakin would not win another game, but

24 September 201 3 such was the case. Draws in rounds four and 32 lt:lf3 JJ..e7 33 lt:ld2 g4 34 h4 JJ..f8 3S 1'.d4..tg7 SS es iJ..h6 S6 lt:lf4 ..txf4 S7 five were followed by three successive ffc2 gxf4 ffc2SS e4 'iYd1 S9 fS l:!e8 losses, including a gruelling 95-move queen 35 J:l.xc7 would allow the sac-back The checks run out after 59 ... 'lif3+ 60 ending against Mamedyarov, and the Rus­ 35... J::!. xd2 36 .bd2 ffxe4+ 37 'it>g1 ffxe2 'it>g1 'iYd1 + 61 'it>h2 g3+ 62 fxg3 ffe2+ 63 sian disappeared from overall contention. with counterplay. Grischuk prefers to main­ 'it>g1 ffe1 + 64 'it>g2 ffe2+ 65 1'.f2, etc. As the early leader fell away, it was tain his grip, although the relatively solid 60 e6 'iVf3+ 61 'it>g1 1-0 Grischuk and Mamedyarov who emerged to black position is not that easy to break take over. Their round five meeting saw the down. Mamedyarov's great weakness has al­ Russian win in impressive style, with a stan­ 3S ...c6 36 lt:lf1 .!;!.ed6 37 JJ..gs l::!.8d7 38 ways been his temperament, which does dard Sicilian-like exchange sacrifice: JJ..e3 l:te6 39 .lk3 .l:rd8 40 lt:ld2 JJ..g7 41 not usually react well to defeats, but on this l::!.cS 1'.f8 42 llaS occasion he bounced back with two straight A.Grischuk- wins, against Karjakin and Topalov. The lat­ ter game was a curious miniature: S.Mamedyarov .i -*-• Round 5 .t. S.Mamedyarov-V. Topalov .t. .i � Round 7 Nimzo -lndian Defence .i .i.a.. 1:1 .t. .t. 1 d4 lt:lf6 2 c4 e6 3 lt:lc3 ..tb4 4 �c2 .t. .t. .t. 8 8 .t. 8 0-0 S lt:lf3 cs 6 dxcS lt:la6 7 g3 lt:lxcS 8 .t. � iV .t. 8 ]i 8 i.g2 lt:lce4 9 0-0 ..txc3 10 bxc3 dS 11 lt:lgS lt:ld6 12 cxdS exdS 13 .l:rd1 iJ..fS .t. WJitfj 88� 14 'iYb3 h6 1 S lt:lh3 ..txh3 16 ..txh3.l:!.e8 17 1'.g2 .l:rxe2 18 1'.xdS lt:lxdS 19 'IWxdS VJjj 8 'iVf6 20 1'.f4 8 42 •.. cs After a bout of manoeuvring, White has managed to find an optimal arrangement for his pieces. Passive defence by 42 ....la a8 43 lt:lc4 is unattractive, so Mamedyarov sur­ White has strong queenside pressure, renders another pawn, but Grischuk's tech­ arising out of a Four Knights English, Re­ nique is extremely accurate, and he slowly versed Dragon variation. Grischuk now in­ grinds his way to a well-deserved victory. vested an exchange for a pawn, and the 43 bxcS .lk6 44 l::!.a4 'ii'e6 4S I:lc4 .l:rc7 shattering of the enemy queenside struc­ 46 lt:lb3 Vlk'c6 47 a4 11lb8 48 Vlk'c3 Vlk'e6 ture. 49 lt:lc1 .l:rb2 SO 'lixb2 'ii'xc4 S1 ffxeS 29 l:1xc6! bxc6 30 .l:l.xc6J:l.e6 31 l:!.c4 hS l:tc6 S2 'iYdS 'i¥xa4 S3 lt:ld3 l:te6 S4

I was watching this game live with my friend Bernard Cafferty, and after the sharp simplifications over the past few moves, we were, of course, anticipating a rapid draw. However, Topalov now missed an important detail: 20... lt:le4? 20 ... lt:lfS is just drawish after 21 '!Wxb 7 litae8. 21 ffd3lt:lxc3 2 2 .l:l.ac1 !

Shakhriyar Mamedyaro v - an aggressive approach yielded five wins and clear first place in the Beijing Grand Prix. www.chess.co.uk 25 22... t2lx d1? 13 0-0 dS? This further mistake suggests Topalov Wang Hao-A.Giri This impatient lunge looks like the move had still not realised that his knight was of a player out of sorts, and unable to with­ being trapped. He had to try 22... gS 23 Round 7 stand the tension. The icy-calm computer .6!.xc3 (23 i.e3? t2lxd1 attacks the bishop, Phtl!dor Defence prefers 1 3 ... '¥Vc6. and Black is better) 23 ...gxf4 24 'i!Uxe2 14 ttJxdS tLlxdS 1 S 'i'xdS+ �xc3 25 �g4+ �g7 26 �xf4 when the 1 d4 d6 2 e4 t2lf6 3 t2lc3 es 4 t2lf3 heavy piece ending is not pleasant for Black, t2lbd7 S i.c4exd4 thanks to his weakened king, but at least he I am not sure I really understand the i. j_ j_ i. is still playing. logic of delaying this exchange until after 23 '/Wxe2t2lc3 24 '/Wc4 1-0 Black has committed his knight to d7, ii lj) • i The trap door closes on the errant black thereby ruling out a -gaining ...t2l c6 'iV knight after the queen recapture. However, it seems all this is now theory, so I have no i� C2J Despite the brevity of Topalov's defeat, doubt that it has been Houdini'd and Rybka'd he was not the first player to lose that day. to within an inch of its life, by the world's II 8 The young Dutch star has endured top players. Or has it? a difficult 1 8 months or so; after racing into 6 '1Wxd4 i.e7 the world elite with such ease, he has ex­ 888 888 perienced what the Kotov's and Ro­ manovsky's of old Soviet days would have ll � ll� called "a creative crisis", finding it increas­ ingly hard to win games against top players, 1S... @e8? and gradually acquiring a reputation for And this is just capitulation. 15... � e6 large numbers of boring draws. Prior to was the only hope, although now after 1 6 Beijing, his two Grand Prix appearances had 'i'd3 White has three pawns and the attack seen him draw 1 8 games out of a total of for his piece, and is certainly better. After 22, losing the other four, and without a the text, it is just a massacre, as White sim­ single win. After starting Beijing with a loss ply brings up a few reserves and then rams and a draw, he finally broke his duck by his e-pawn down Black's throat beating the equally out-of-form Kamsky in 16 i.gs'i'g6 17 l:l'.ad1 l:tgB 18 f4 round three, but Bernard and I were dumb­ founded by what transpired on the live games in round seven: 7 i.xf7+ Few could re­ sist this thematic sacrifice, but Giri seemed surprised by it, and soon collapses. 7 ... @xf7 8 tLlgS+ @es 9 t2le6 cs 10 '1Wd1 '1Wb6 11 t2lxg7+ @f7 12 t2lf5 White has two pawns and an at­ 18... as tack, for his piece. A desperate attempt to include the One would have queen's rook in the defence, via a6, but it is thought the play­ too late. 18... h6 19 e5 hxg5 20 e6 is ers would have equally hopeless. analysed this in 19 eS '/WxfS detail, but Giri is After 19... J:!.a6 both 20 t2ld6+ and 20 unable to defend J:!.fe1 are crushing. the position. 20 'i'xg8l:i.a6 21 .U.fe1 J:!.96 22 e6 1-0 12... i.f B?! Probably as crushing a defeat as I have 1 2 ...tLl eS is an ever seen sustained by a 2700+ player. obvious alterna­ tive, looking to Two rounds later, Giri suffered another remove a key at­ embarrassment, when he forgot his prepa­ tacking piece. Then ration against Mamedyarov, and his 1 2th 13 t2lxe7 @xe7 14 move in a known GrOnfeld position dropped i.gS i.e6 1 5 0-0 two pawns and left him lost at once. That l:i.ag8 is "unclear", left Mamedyarov in sole first place with two as they say in all rounds to go, half a point ahead of Grischuk, Wang Hao had a disappointing result in Beijing the best opening and with the nearest challengers Leko and but scored a fine win against Anish Gin: books. Topalov a further point back. It seemed

26 September 201 3 certain that the top two would fight out White's task easier, by reducing the scope for 22... lll eB 23 ll:id3fS first place, but in the tenth round, both lost. enemy counterplay. Mamedyarov's defeat was the result of a textbook queenside attack by Morozevich, who had had a fairly quiet tournament hith­ i. i. • erto. It was a game that has old hands like myself involuntarily muttering "Rubinstein­ .t. � .t. .t. -*. .t. Takacs!" to ourselves: .t. * .t. � t2J -*. A.Morozevich­ S.Mamedyarov 8 8 8 Round 10 �8 l2J 8 GnJnfe/d Defence BB�B 8 88�8 MM 1 lllf3 lllf6 2 c4 g6 3 g3 i..g7 4 i..g2 M� 0-0 5 d4 c6 6 0-0 dS 7 'i&'b3dxc4 24 h4 7 ...'i&' b6 is a more common alternative. 14... J::t abB 15 I;!fd1 �fB 16 llles �xg2 Here is the point. With his rooks 8 'i&'xc4 '¥Yd5 9 lllbd2 'i&'xc4 10 lllxc4 1 7 Wxg2 e6 18 i..xfB 'lt>xfB 19 lllec4 bunched defensively on the queenside, Black �e6 11 b3 �dS 1 2 �a3 lites 13 l:tac1 We7 20 b4 J:!.ecB 21 a3 g51? is reluctant to allow the opening of a second lllbd7 14 lt:Jas The computer approves of this move, front on the kingside, so his next is more or This is where the Rubinstein parallel but I am not so sure. It is the standard di­ less forced. comes in - see the game Rubinstein-Takacs, lemma in such positions: does Black wait 24 •.. g4 25 ll:if4 Budapest 1926, where a knight lands on aS passively, or does he try to work up some Now the knight has a great , for the long term, in even more devastating counterplay, and thereby risking creating pressing on the weakness at e6, whilst sub­ circumstances. From this square, the knight additional weaknesses? There is no easy sequent kingside line-opening by f2-f3 exerts very unpleasant pressure against b 7, answer, but in this instance, White soon remains potentially on the agenda. whilst the weakness of c6 means that it can exploits the position of the g5-pawn. 25 •..lll ef6 almost never be expelled by the move ... b 7 - 22 lllb2 25... eS? is an obvious attempt to get rid b6. Morozevich gradually increases the pres­ Immediately rerouting the knight, in re­ of the weak e6-pawn, but then f5 becomes sure, and the absence of queens makes sponse to Black's last. weak in its turn, and 26 dxeS lllxeS 27 .l:!.cS wins material at once: 27 ... Wf6 28 ll:ih5+ 'it>e6 29 lllb3 does the trick. 26 .l:!.c2 lt:Jds 27 llld3 l:tfB 28 e3 .l:!.feB 29 l:te1 lll5f6 30 .l:!.b1 .l:!.ecB 31 .l:!.bc1 .l:!.dB 32 a4 llle4

i. .t. .t.

33 bS The long-anticipated break finally comes, forcing a decisive entry down the c-file. 33 ... cxbS 34 lk7 llld6 35 ll:icS The pressure is decisive, as b 7 drops off. Note how the knight on a5, which has not made a move since move 14, is integral to White's breakthrough.

35 ..•bxa4 36 lllcxb7 lllxb7 37 lllxb7 .l:!.fB 38 .l:!.1c6 lU7 39 lt:Jcs 'it>eB 40 J::txe6+ @dB 41 li!.ec6 1-0

Strangely, despite the defeat of the two leaders, not much changed at the top, as Ve selin Topalo v'sresult would have been much improved third-placed Leko only drew and Topalov did had he managed to avOJd a homble blunder against Amsh Giri www.chess.co.uk 27 even worse, dropping a bishop in the early with the idea 17 gxf5 'ii'g5+, but the middlegame against Giri. So the final round bishop on e4 remains trapped after 1 7 a3 started with Mamedyarov first, Grischuk i.xd2 1 8 'ii'xd2 i.e4 19 i.e2, and there is half a point behind, and Karjakin and Leko a no adequate defence to the threat of f2-f3. further half behind him. The last round was None of this is remotely beyond the cal­ something of an anti-climax, with Ma­ culation of a world class GM, so it is a mys­ medyarov making a quick solid draw against tery what T opalov missed when choosing Gelfand, and Grischuk making an equally 15... i.fS??. quick, if somewhat less solid one, against Leko. The result was an outright first for the Azeri, whilst Topalov's equal third secured him enough Grand Prix points to give him an unassailable lead in the overall series. It is a Readers' Letters well-deserved success for the Bulgarian, who has clearly been the dominant player John Shaw's long-awaited tome on the throughout the series, and completes an Now 1 5 ..i. xf3 1 6 tlldxf3 'iVb6 is com­ King's Gambit for Quality Chess finally ar­ outstanding comeback year, which has seen pletely equal. Instead, Topalov produced: rived last week. I have to say I'm very im­ him return to something close to his best. 1 S ...i.fS ?? 16 94 pressed by it mostly due to the huge Finally, a few odds and ends, and And now he decided to jettison a whole amount of work John has clearly done - curiosities from the tournament: piece, and lost a few moves later: but also because he includes four pages on 16... tllxd4 17 9xfS �h8 18 f6 i.b4 19 the Wagenbach Defence (1 e4 eS 2 f4 What's my name? i.92 J::i.98 20 tlldf3 tllc6 21 tlld3 'iVb6 exf4 3 tllf3 h511) 22 �h1 i.cs 23 'ii'c1 1-0 Although I've written articles on 3 ... hS The computer points out the interesting myself (for Ch ess Mail and elsewhere), and - G . Kamsky V . lvanchuk trick 16... i. b4, Mike Fox had an ongoing discussion in his Round 10 Chess Addict column for this magazine, John is the first person to mention it in a !. � !.e 'proper' book . However, there are a couple of factual .t. .t. errors I'd like to correct as a matter of � .t. .t. historical accuracy. John writes "Though it was first played by Jonathan Tait in 1992, .t. B ..t B the invention of this move has been cred­ ited to the English (originally Hungarian) B B correspondence player Janos Wagenbach." � Actually, 3 ... hS started life in blitz games (at Mansfield Chess Club) in 1991, BB � B with Janos playing it more-or-less as a joke: "The King's Gambit is so crap that I : �tb:� can even play 3 ...hS against it" kind of thing. The defence de­ veloped from there when it proved surpris­ Here is a position, which I suspect could ingly difficult to refute. win one quite a few pints of beer, in a But Janos started play­ 'Guess the opening variation' competition. ing it in Surely, it must be a Samisch Nimzo, of the before I did. Coinciden­ Botvinnik-Capablanca, AVRO 1938 variety, tally, the first game I or maybe an Exchange QGD with tllge2, I have on record features hear you ask? But no. Believe it or not, the the same line John opening moves were 1 d4 tllf6 2 tllf3 e6 3 gives in his book: 4 d4 i.f4 ... gS 5 h4 g4 6 tlle5 etc. Also, Janos is al­ The curious case of most exclusively an the disappearing bishop OTB player. His corre­ spondence games with 3 ... hS (which feature in A.Giri-V.Topalov the databases) come specifically from the­ Round 10 matic tournaments Caro -Kann Defence which I and later John Elburg set up. 1 e4 c6 2 d4 dS 3 es i.fs 4 tllf3 e6 s i.e2 i.96 6 0-0 tllh6 7 c3 i.e7 8 i.xh6 Jonathan Tait, 9xh6 9 93 o-o 1 O tllbd2 as 11 tlle1 cs Farnsfield, Notts 1 2 h4 cxd4 1 3 hS i.e4 1 4 cxd4 tllc6 1 S i.f3 Anish Giri finally won some Grand Prix games in Beijing.

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by FM Jonathan Rogers

This year the County Finals, for all seven to do is move his f-pawn back to f7, as do sections, was held at Trident Technology all players when their king­ Park, Leamington Spa on 1 3th July. In the A.Kalaiyalahan-P.Ackley side attack fails to emerge. Open section, the finalists of 201 2 renewed Middlesex vs. Surrey 37 gxfS gxfS 3S e4! their rivalry. Surrey regained the title from Middlesex, who had beaten them 8Y2-7y, in the 201 2 final. The two sides were each graded in the mid-1 90s. When such closely matched sides produce such a close result, there is a temp­ tation for the reporter to utter something profound and explain why the winners were in fact destined to win all along. No such luck with this match. Middlesex could also have won, and in the first half of the match they seemed the more likely to edge it. Most of the wins in the match were reasonably convincing (though on board six the players took turns to blunder a rook), but none was especially impressive. It did

· not help that the weather was oppressively Ruthlessly opening more lines. There is hot, and the Open section as well as the Black is a touch worse overall, and was no need to worry about Black's king becom­ Minor Counties was played in a smaller but probably hoping that his opponent would ing active: 38 ...fxe4 39 �xe4 h6 40 'it>e2 separate room from the other sections. This exchange rooks and give him an . @es 41 f3 'it>d4 42 'it>d2; eventually it will gave the stronger players more room to 29 J:!.b2 be driven back, since the more important walk around, but it also deprived them of However, Akshaya is happy to keep the feature of the position is that Black's knight the air conditioning, and it was this that tension. She considered an immediate 29 is to tied to White's b-pawn, and White can gave the more important comfort to the l:tb5, but Black might drum up some play create zugzwang possibilities by playing masses in the larger playing hall. You don't with 29... 'Ll dS!?. �g6-e8-b5. Alternatively, an immediate get maximum resistance in bad positions 29 ... CLld7 30 J::!.bS! 38 ... <;i;>eS 39 exfS exfS 40 @e1 <.i>d4 41 under such adverse conditions, and accord­ Now it is different, and it is Black who @d2 will soon force Black backwards. Ack­ ingly those who won games didn't have to panics and makes unfavourable exchanges. ley tries instead to keep the position closed, show their absolute best. 30 ...l:!:xbS 31 cxbS 'li'eS? 32 �xeS but in all lines White's bishop becomes Perhaps the Open final broke a record 'LlxeS 33 b6 d2 es 42 <;i;>c3 @cs 43 �e6 <;i;>b6 44 there were more female players in the Open to round up the b-pawn quickly, or to ad­ �dS final than in the other six finals combined. In vance his c-pawn quickly, or at least to hold And here it is, on d5. particular, Surrey's board 1 6 stood out. At a in the middle of the board. It is 44... 'Lla6 4S 'it>xc4 'Libs 46 �gs @xb7 eleven years of age, I feel sure that Akshaya not clear that any of these aims is possible, 4 7 WdS 'Lld7 4S i..e6 1-0 Kalaiyalahan was also the youngest player of and 36 <.i>e2 would have been perfectly either gender to play in the Open Final. good. Akshaya's move probably came as Disappointed though they must have Showing a touch of class, the Surrey more of a shock. She is playing on both sides been, this was not the only time Middlesex suggested that she should collect the tro­ of the board and thinking about how to lost 8Y2-7y, in the Final stages this year. phy on behalf of the team, though she open the position to give her bishop more Yes, you read that correctly. They were also needed some help, since the trophy is as power. beaten 8Y2-7Y2 in the semi-final by Kent, huge as it is old, and is apt to fall into four 36 g4! 96 but two days later they were declared win­ different pieces. Black can hardly exchange and expose ners by 8-7, which paved their way to the Akshaya's playing style is remarkably ma­ his pawn on e6, but neither does he want to final. Middlesex's captain had discovered ture. She improves her position methodically exchange on f5 with his e-pawn, since he is that one of the Kent players was not a cur­ and is alert to her opponent's tactical possi­ hoping that the pawn on e6 might later rent ECF member upon which the National bilities as well as her own. This was the sec­ keep White's king from entering via d5. Of Controller applied the penalties set out in ond stage of her game against Middlesex: course, what he would really have wanted the rules. The player in question was

30 September 201 3 deemed to have lost his game (which over Finally, I offer some words about the on to win and can only repeat that the playing the board he had drawn), and Kent also Minor Counties section. This is nowadays conditions were not conducive to maximum incurred an extra penalty point. more competitive, since it includes counties resistance in bad positions. This incident inspired 27 (!) pages of a who just miss out on the national stages of In the post-mortem we looked at thread on the English Chess Forum. The de­ the Open, albeit that in this section the 11... hS?!. However, Black's king is now un­ faulted player had simply not got around to overall grading average must not exceed safe and perhaps White opens up the posi­ renewing his membership which had expired 1 80. So some unfamiliar teams are now tion too quickly: 1 2 fxeS tt:lg4 (if 1 2 ...tt:J xeS some five weeks previously. Other players eligible to compete, and this year Essex 1 3 tt:lb3 again) 13 tt:lf3 followed by Jlf4 were also thereby defaulted - including me! travelled through the county of Bedford­ looks good. We did enjoy analysing the wild - but we were all, I believe, simply late in shire on their way to beating them in the 1 2 fxeS h4 1 3 exf6 hxg3, and after my renewing our membership. I had received just final. The opening of my game was of some intended 1 4 tt:le4? Black gets a strong at­ one email saying that my membership was interest: tack with the delicate 14... .l:!.xh2+ 1 5 Wg1 soon to expire, without the exact date being 't'Nd7!, threatening ...l:tx g2+. But actually specified, and no further reminder was re­ J.Rogers-G.Kenworthy there is no mate after 14 fxg7! and White is ceived. It might have helped to receive one liable to make a second queen. when the day of expiry actually fell. Do they Middlesex vs. Bedfordshire On the long journey home I thought of a want our money, or don't they? English Opening third possibility: Black could offer a pawn by Match captains had to be extra obser­ playing 11... e4 1?. After 1 2 tt:Jxe4 tt:Jxe4 13 vant too, on behalf of their negligent play­ 1 d4 e6 2 ltJf3 ltJf6 3 c4 cs 4 g3 cxd4 s 1lxe4 0-0 he will play ...� e8 and develop his ers. My name did not disappear from the ltJxd4 dS 6Slg2eS 7 lUc2?! light-squared bishop on fS or g4. His whole membership list altogether when my re­ Apparently 7 tt:lf3 is the recommended development is then much easier than newal was overdue, albeit that the expired move here, but you would have to have White's and the position resembles a 'good' renewal date was showing for the benefit of read books on the English Opening to know Albin Counter-Gambit where White has anyone who looked closely enough. that. After all, Black can still play 7 ...d4 even weakened himself with f2-f4. There is no The choice of penalty in the rules was here, in view of 8 tt:Jxe57? 1'\VaS+. easy get-out for White. 14 1'!Yd3 g6 achieves itself that of the controller, Alex Holowczak 7 ...d4 8 0-0 nothing, and after ..J:it e8 Black will threaten (also Home Director of the ECF). Alex, writ­ ... .l:!.xe4 and . .llfS White might liquidate by ing on the Forum, says that he had foreseen 14 e3 .l:!.e8 1 5 Jlxc6 bxc6 1 6 exd4, but his the exact possibility that a match result light squares are now weaker than ever and might be affected by a failure promptly to Black might be able to respond with renew membership, but this had not trou­ 16.. .ll fS!. bled him. He assumed that if captains were Did you consider 11... e4? Even as far as warned sufficiently explicitly about it, then it sacrifices go, this one is non-routine. Nor­ wouldn't happen! mally, we expect to gambit pawns for quicker To my mind, one can see the wider development, the bishop-pair, or to ruin our problem here that ECF Officers are not in opponent's . Instead, the mo­ the habit of consulting outside of Council, tif here is simply to stop White from playing although Council too, notoriously, is by no fxeS, and to argue that it is worth a pawn to means a reliable gauge of 'popular' opinion. stop White from playing with his rook on f1 In this case, the match captains ought to and bishop on c1 (cf. the game continuation). have been originally consulted for their Overall Essex won three finals, which is views - and I believe that every captain excessive even by our standards (see Home would have objected to this extra burden 8 ...tt:Jc 6?! News in the August issue). When our team which is quite unrelated to the competitive I believe that Black should immediately next travels across the country to play a final aspects of team chess. Hopefully their views have played 8 ... aS and 9 ...Jl cS. It is then against a neighbouring or nearby county, I would then have prompted a rethink. more difficult for White to play f2-f4, which look forward to writing the next periodic Occasionally, ECF officers agree that they is his main source of counterplay. He could 'finals' report. should consult more often and become more not meet 8 ... aS with 9 f4? transparent, only shortly afterwards to return on account of 9 ... e4. So Middlesex vs. Surrey to type. The insular tendency re-emerged maybe 8 ...ltJ c6 gives White here when Kent's (unsuccessful) appeal time to play f2-f4 reasona­ 1 Richard Bates [w] v Stephen Berry 1-0 against the Controller's decision was en­ bly safely. 2 David Moskovic v Gavin Wall 0-1 trusted to ... three other ECF directors. 9 tt:ld2 as 1 o f4 ..tcs 11 3 Zehra Topel v Roger Emerson Y,-Y, Some readers may recall that when I @h1 4 Robert Eames v Marcus Osborne 0-1 wrote on the County Finals in CHESS in Now, this is a test. What 5 Peter Batchelor v Russell Granat 0-1 2002, I alluded to the groundswell of opin­ do you want to play as 6 Daniel Lindner v Chris Briscoe 1-0 ion against having hordes of SCCU teams Black? Think please, and no 7 David Guthrie v Clive Frostick Y,-Y, travelling to the Midlands to play each computers! 8 Simon Spivack v Mark Josse Y,-Y, other, apparently just to give the officials a In the game, Gary chose a 9 Carsten Pedersen v Daniel Rosen 1-0 better sense of occasion. I believe that most routine move, 11... 0-0?. He 10 Ananthanarayanan Balaji v Ian Sharpe 0-1 players still object to the unnecessary travel perhaps underestimated the 11 Stephen Coles v Robin Haldane 0-1 and expense. And yet, 11 years later, we are pressure that White is about 1 2 Colin Mackenzie v Angus French 1-0 still seeing Middlesex playing Surrey in to exert. After 12 fxeS 13 Mark Davey v Paul Shepherd Y,-Y, Leamington Spa. Regular consultation with tt:JxeS 13 tt:lb3 (which he 14 Jochen Wittmann v Matthew Lunn Y,-Y, captains and players, and independent ap­ had missed) 13... Jl a7 14 1 S Nevil Chan v Philip Stimpson 1-0 peal committees, are aspects of the 4NCL tt:lbxd4 tt:Jxc4 1 5 .llgS it 1 6 Peter Ackley v Akshaya Kalaiyalahan 0-1 from which the ECF can learn when running was White whose position its own competitions. made the more sense. I went 7Y,-8Y, www.chess.co.uk 31 Swindles:· Ten Dirty Moves

by Amatzia Avni

Professional players are very serious about 3. Accelerating their chess. They frequently engage in deep This dirty move is particularly handy in pawn investigations of the latest opening theory. races. An example of this peculiar time han­ Discovering an improvement on the 17th dling (under the title of 'Scumbag Tricks') move in an obscure sub-variation in the was given on the old site 'pawn pusher' by Caro-Kann makes them happy. Most of us the reader 'Hull24'. We give here another amateurs, however, derive JOY and satisfac­ illustration, vividly described by Justin Hor­ tion elsewhere. In the present article I shall ton in Kingpin (with an amended diagram). introduce ten deadly chess weapons, which do not require profound knowledge and, hence, are more suitable for the average Joe and Helen. They are a bit unconventional, though; suitable mainly for unofficial or rapid contests. In addition, they are not quite legal, so readers are asked to keep an open and flexible frame of mind.

1. One turn, two moves 2. False announcement of check The idea is to maximise the turn to move to Warning the adversary by announcing -achieve broad goals. Perhaps the best "Check!" is not a requirement in tournament known demonstration of this procedure is games, but doing it may serve a purpose. J.C. the enlarged castling Hallman describes such an incident in Th e Ch ess Artist "In a quick endgame [one of his opponents] called 'check!' loudly when he had not in fact given check, and Glenn ran out of "There is no way for white to queen first time looking for the phantom threat.'' - unless the theory of relativity can be A variation on this theme is to produce a made to apply, and he can move so fast that Magid, named after the late Tel-Aviv mega­ time slows down along the h-file, enabling hustler Avraham Magid. In the following him to catch up and overtake the black typical position, in a rapid game, Magid pawn on the a-file. It can be done. This was, would have played 1 .l:!.a8 and shouted after all, a rapid game - the more rapid the "Check!". better ...". For example, 1 h2-h5!, or later on, h5-h71 is an effective tool. "How fast can a passed pawn be pushed?" asks Hor­ ton, ahead of answering his own question: "It depends who's doing the pushing."

4. Passing From this position, White can perform Actually, this is a mirror-image of the previ­ an improved version of castling, shuffling his ous clause. Especially useful in reciprocal king and rook so the latter ends up on the zugzwang positions, the idea is to freeze semi-open e-file: time and pass the turn to our opponent. For example: (s ee fo llo wing diagram) (s ee fo llo wing diagram)

One may also implement this trick by With White to move, 1 c7 +? �c8 is fu­ making two successive moves with the tile, as 2 �c6 brings about . 1 same piece: for example, collecting two �d6! is best, just lifting the king, putting it pawns in one go. With many pieces on the The frightened opponent would usually back on the same square and pressing the board and the players in time pressure, one extricate his king to the back rank, away clock. Now the onus is on black to find the can get away with this. from the imaginary threat, whereupon the counter-save 1 ...� d8(!), but most people sly Magid would swiftly claim victory. would move the king and lose to 2 c7.

32 September 201 3 Inexperienced participants in a simulta­ neous display are known to have tried this from time to time. They are always stunned when the maestro returns to the board, easily spots the difference, and removes the added piece while punching the impudent rival. However, sometimes one may get away with this. Suppose you announce, as White, mate in one, look a second to an­ other direction, and then find the following position on the board. Could you spot right away what is wrong?

5. Copying 7. Eliminating friendly pieces Imitating the opponent's moves is appar­ First mentioned by the Russian poet Push­ ently nothing new, as symmetric play is kin, in Eugene Onegirr. "Above the chess­ familiar to everyone. However, taking the board they will sit, and ponder each move's technique to the extreme is a fresh device. secret meaning, til Lensky, too absorbed to An old tale, recounted by Bruce Hayden, look, with his pawn takes his own rook" tells about a mysterious stranger who vis­ (source: Andy Soltis, in Ch ess to Enjoy) . ited the Manchester Chess Club one after­ While the elimination of one's own piece noon. He was so absorbed in watching the in the poem is caused by an absent-minded games, that it was natural for a member to lover, an intentional self-capture may turn invite him to a contest. The stranger pro­ out to be a sly and powerful weapon. For tested feebly that he was not really a player, instance: Answer: Black sneaked in a pawn - there but eventually accepted the challenge. are nine of the little fellows in the diagram. Play went 1 e4 es 2 f4 fS 3 d4 dS 4 c4 Remove any black pawn and White can cs S exfS exf4 6 dxcS dxc4 7 'il'xdB+. mate in one (H. Fischer, 191 O; from Burt Hochberg's, Chess Brain twisters) .

10. Cool interpretation of the touch-move rule Well, there are countless demonstrations to this phenomena, the (in)famous one being the Matulovic/J'adou bovich tale. Here is another case: Gufeld-Kots, Ukrainian Cham­ pionship 1955, saw the following: 1 d4 tl'if62 c4 e6 3 tl'ic3 ..¥l..b4 4 e3 0-0 S ..¥l..d3 dS 6 a3

1 tl'if6+ @h8 2 9xf6 ! with a decisive dou­ ble threat.

Now came the stunning reply 7 ...'it>xe1 8. Half-square strategy (?!) Indeed, a winning shot. It transpired This is an old recommendation of Bill that the stranger was called to fix the elec­ Hartston's: move a pawn, say, from c2 to c3 tric light meter and was just waiting to do and a half, so that it can be j'adoubed in his job. "I tried to tell you I couldn't play subsequent play either back to the third chess, but you insisted ... " rank, or, if it turns out to be vulnerable, up to the fourth rank. Similarly, a knight on the 6. Jumping over obstacles border between the squares es and d4 may One needn't really take enemy's pieces off enjoy a lot of options. the board. A fine alternative is to jump over them. Brian Harley presents the following 9. Returning captured pieces fascinating handling of the jump, accompa­ to the game "Here Kots wrote down 6 .....¥l.. d6, but nied by some more dirty moves: When our opponent is away from the board, then put his J:.f8 on d61 [ ...] he returned the it is sometimes possible to use this opportu­ piece to its place. I demanded 'the rook has (s ee follo wing diagram) nity to reincarnate dead chess pieces. Actu­ to play!' [ ... ] but Kots answered: "Who actu­ ally, there is a sort of fairy chess form, ally saw it, though?" (Gufeld, in My Life in 1 li!.93+ (j umping over f3 and removing called Circe, which permits (in fact, obliges) Chess) . d4 ) 1 ...@h7 2 tl'ixf8+ (a crafty such a thing: "a unit, when captured, is re­ knight indeed) 2 ...@h6 3 J:!.96# (a refresh- born on its original square in the game ar­ There are certainly more than just ten ing legal move, for a change). ray". dirty moves, but by now readers should www.chess.co.uk 33 have picked up the spirit. In accordance with its long standing reputation, CHESS not only A little bird grants you general principles and strata­ just told me ... gems, but also challenges you to practice. Readers are encouraged to try their hand in the following exercises. Solutions may be found on page 54. A round-up ofwhat the top players and chess persona!tties have been saying on Twitter

Leinier Dominguez - @LeinierD Congratulations to @MickeyAdamsGM for win the Dortmund in very good shape. #Chess #Dortmund

Malcolm Pein - @TelegraphChess 4) It appears that it is curtains for At Torquay hotel, a bit Fawlty Towers. I White, but look carefully around the board mentioned the chess but I think I got and amongst the dead pieces ... away with it. Gordon and Howell on 4/4 then quick draw. #chess

Raymond Keene - @Times_Chess Williams blasted Gordon - Howell will be 1) Black unwisely placed both his king very happy if he can hold a draw v Heb­ and queen on the same diagonal, enabling den #Torquay #Britishchesschampionship White's flexible bishop to win heavy material. - @stuthefox Congratulations to David Howell, the new 201 3 British Chess Champion! He has a huge 9/1 0 score - winning the event with a round to spare!

John Saunders - @j ohnchess Sarah Hegarty and 12-year-old Akshaya Kalaiyalahan are the joint British Women's S) Following the sequence 1 d4 cS 2 Chess Champions - congratulations to dS es 3 c4 fS 4 e4 Black made the dread­ both of them. ful 4 ...fxe4??, which is surely about to lose on the spot to 5 '!i'hS+. Is everything lost, Gawain Jones - @GMGawain though? 8/1 1 and 2nd= in the British + now in sunny Tromso for the World Cup starting tomorrow. Wish me luck!

2) In this theoretical position from the ENJOY CHESS - @GMHikaru Benko, Black played 1 ... il.xf1 . Now it is After a nice long summer break from possible to recapture with the king or rook, National , I am looking forward to the up­ but there is a third way ... Chess Club coming World Cup in Tromso, Norway.

Only £1 3 p/a with a monthly - @Pogonina magazine En Passan tfull of Our poll also has Kramnik as #1 (closely news and views. followed by Aronian). Rated #2 among Russians, Vlad is still viewed as #1 by far All levels of play, beginner to #chessworldcup Grandmaster. Play by web server, post or email. Jovanka Houska - @thelittlehat About to watch the World Chess Cup, Visit our website at unashamedly supporting the 3 Girls, 2 www.natcor.org.uk Englishmen and 4 Norwegians :) Heia! for more details. Garry Kasparov - @Kasparov63 New Webserver I'll try to follow Troms0, but am quite tournament launched. busy building pressure on world leaders to boycott 201 4 Games. (Politi­ Contact: Des Green, cians, not athletes!) 3) White avoided 1 cS'!i'?? l:.c1 + and 93 Elmdon Lane, Marston Green, played 1 @c2 It seems that Black's re­ Birmingham, 837 7DN Magnus Carlsen - @MagnusCarlsen sources have dried up, except for ... [email protected] A lot of press appeared in Krager0 today. They filmed me making this golf putt!

34 September 201 3 Find the Winning Moves

Test your tactical ability with these positions grouped in rough order of difficulty. The games come from various recent events, especially the British Championship. Don't forget that whilst sometimes the key move will force mate, other times it will just lead to the win of a pawn. Solutions on page 54.

Warm-up Puzzles

(1) D.Collier-K.Emery (2) L.Martin-A.Longson (3) M.Hebden-C.Purdon British Ch., Torquay 201 3 British Ch., Torquay 201 3 British Ch., Torquay 201 3 Wh ite to Play Black to Play White to Play

(4) H.Murphy-A.Balaji (5) M.Surtees-K.Arkell (6) G.Jones-J.Reid British Ch., Torquay 201 3 British Ch., Torquay 201 3 British Ch., Torquay 201 3 Wh ite to Play Black to Play Wh ite to Play

www.chess.co.uk 35 Intermediate Puzzles for the Club Player

(7) M.Brown-A.Horton (8) T.Rahman-S.Shankland (9) M.Molner-L.Harmon British Ch., Torquay 201 3 World Open, Arlington 201 3 World Open, Arlington 201 3 Black to Play Black to Play Black to Play and Dra w

.1• .i • .i • i i i i iil:t ..t .i

i i..t � i -- � ictJ� ctJ � B i i i B Bi � B ..t� B B� B BiB B � � CLJBCLJB ..tI1 BB B�B �CLJB g� �� l:t �� �

(1 O) D.Mackle-G.Jones (1 1) D.Fernandez-P.Wells (12) R.Palliser-D.Ledger British Ch., Torquay 201 3 British Ch., Torquay 201 3 British Ch., Torquay 201 3 Black to Play Black to Play Wh ite to Play

(1 3) S.Khanin-J.Geller (14) M.Vachier Lagrave­ (15) A.Ramirez-S.Shankland Samara 201 3 A.Moiseenko World Open, Arlington 201 3 Black to Play Biel (rapid) 201 3 White to Play White to Play

36 September 201 3 Harder Puzzles for the Club Player - Solutions on page 54

(16) A.Hoare-S.Warman (17) Y.F.Zhou-J.Burnett (18) R.Palliser-J.Nelson British Ch., Torquay 201 3 British Ch., Torquay 201 3 Bradford 201 3 Wh ite to Play Wh ite to Play Wh ite to Play

(19) G.Jones-D.Mason (20) Wang Hao-A.Giri (21) R.Eames-S.McCullough British Ch., Torquay 201 3 Beijing 201 3 British Ch., Torquay 201 3 White to Play Wh ite to Play Wh ite to Play

l..t .i � 1.9 M .t .t .t. .t. � .t. .t. .t. ��b l2J bi l2J l2J � b Id � b b V/Jlbbb b V/Jlb bb � M � M �M �

(22) A.Naiditsch-1.Khenkin (23) S.Williams-R.Weaving (24) D.Yang-A.Getz Dortmund 201 3 British Ch., Torquay 201 3 World Open, Arlington 201 3 Wh ite to Play Wh ite to Play Wh ite to Play

www.chess.co.uk 37 Chess in the 1980s

John Saunders looks at the magazine in 1987

My April piece was entitled 'BH Wood's Last always has, and always will, come first.) I Chess in Britain had grown argumenta­ Stand', but I confess I'm still very reluctant wonder if BHW was a George Formby fan - tive during and after the London stage of to let the old boy walk off into the sunset. I the famous comedian played, not the banjo the 1986 Kasparov-Karpov rematch, which keep finding amusing bits and pieces in the (as most people seem to think), but the had spawned a number of chess enterprises, magazine relating to him and it seems a banjolele, which is a cross between a banjo some of which flourished, but most of which shame not to use them. Besides which, I like and a ukulele. seemed to subside into a war of words. One him so much. Reading through the CHESS magazines almighty wrangle involved the chess cafe of 1987 gives the impression that the game proprietor Aly Amin (headlined by Wood as Barry and his Banjolele had entered quite a tempestuous time. I an 'ebullient Egyptian'), and his Chess for One such item was a small advertisement on suppose the injection of large wads of cash Peace tournament. the cover of the March 1987 issue. It read into chess during the 1970s was the trigger On the other side of the world there as follows: "Your editor, who possesses a for some of the disputes that have bedev­ was another flare-up over Chinese players tame banjolele, seeks light music of 1 930 to illed it ever since. Also, the presence of fei­ who were alleged to have thrown games to 1960 with ukulele notation ... e.g. 'At The sty characters like Fischer, Korchnoi and aide their fellow countrymen in a zonal Balalaika', 'Pennies from Heaven', etc. Write Kasparov was a major contribution to the competition. Somewhere between the two to BH Wood [address]. Please!" growing ratio of punch-ups to pawn­ conflagrations there was Garry Kasparov's Actually, this little snippet might have pushing. In November 1 986, the magazine mum, who openly voiced criticisms of his been the first clue to readers that he was had the headline 'Real Warfare' which, son's first wife (even Kasparov's personal starting to think about life after CHESS, thankfully, wasn't literally true (it was a life seemed to be lived in public in those although the Pergamon/Robert Maxwell reference to the acrimonious Olym­ days and he was as adept at simultaneous take-over and his actual retirement were piad and some backbiting between British rows as simultaneous chess). still some months away. I'm delighted to organisers and the FIDE powers-that-be), I imagine that all this must have weighed learn that he played a stringed instrument as and this spilled over into 1987. Throughout heavy on the incumbent editor, whom some I've been a lifelong devotee of the guitar the year military metaphors of this ilk letter writers criticised for favouring a par­ myself. (Confession time: chess has never seemed to appear on the magazine cover ticular party in one of the many ongoing been my number one hobby - the guitar every month. disputes, while others grumbled about a plague of letters (and they weren't wrong). No wonder BHW turned for consolation to his musical instrument.

What have GMs ever done for us? Another reader's letter is worth quoting because it highlighted the eternal tension between the interests of the professional and amateur games. It followed a waffly ten-page interview with the co-ordinator of Kasparov's new GM Association. I suppose every editor makes the mistake of getting over-excited about new initiatives in the game and CHESS came in for some stick from the readership on this occasion. One letter came from an elderly amateur player, of BHW's own vintage, who was looking back at the changes wrought in his beloved game and not liking what he was seeing: "Angela Day says in CHESS no. 1008 that without the grandmasters there would be nothing for the amateur player to do. K parov preparing for h1 clock 1mul by calltng up 1nlormahon on his What rubbish! She also said that she gets opponents· prev1ou games on h1 per onal computer m lront of p ctator Gia nost in cllon 1 very upset actually, sometimes, about the petty amateur political chess person whose In 198 7 the firs t adverts fo r Ch essBase and other electronic study/p reparation big interest is his own. computer sys tems started app earing in the magazine, catering for amateur players who "Well, I am upset that she refers to the wanted to imita te the modern preparation methods used by young stars like Kasparov.

38 September 201 3 amateur in this way, just because he prefers old one. It was unique. with a sharp position, but as it was a Sunday concentrating on his own game rather than "Angela Day is lobbying the cause of the morning, he chose a quieter alternative worrying about what the grandmasters are GMs. Good for her, but I am lobbying the scheme of development. doing. And. I would think that mine would cause of those lesser mortals for whom she 8 lZJge2 lZJbd7 9 0-0 0-0 1 O �d2 es not be the only dissenting voice. seems to have such callous disregard." Also playable is 1 O ... bxc4 11 ..txc4 dS. "As the co-ordinator of the GM Asso­ JB Hawson, Worcester Park, 8 October 11 cxbS axbS 12 a3 ciation, she obviously has an axe to grind 1987. Rather unenterprising. 1 2 b4 followed and her other statement that 'The year by a subsequent a4 is a more energetic 1988/9 is going to be a breakthrough in the A veritable cri de coeurof an old-school continuation. ' surely only involves the chess player. I have some sympathy for him 12... ..tb7 13 Mac1 exd4 14 tZJxd4 lZJeS interests of the GMs or international pres­ and also lament the disappearance of old­ 15 �fd1 lZJfd716 �e2 lZJb6 17 i.g5 tige. I read recently in another chess maga­ fashioned club chess. zine of repute that 'lower down, at grass Time for some games, I think. One of my roots, the position is not so rosy'. Many favourite chess opponents a few years back clubs all over the country are reporting that was Jon Benjamin of Richmond Chess Club, their membership continues to decline. who died at a distressingly young age in "I recollect that in the 1930s county 2000. Here are a couple of games he anno­ matches were played over 1 00 boards, tated for the November 1987 magazine. there were rarely any defaults, and all the top players were pleased to play in them. J.C.Benjamin-R.Holmes Now, with county matches over only 20 boards, many counties (certainly Surrey) St Albans Open 1987 have great difficulty in getting out a full King 's Indian Defence representative team. Very often reserves have to be drafted in after time has been 1 d4 tLlf6 2 c4 g6 3 lZJc3 i.g7 4 e4 d6 5 lost on the clock. Sometimes there are as f3 a6 6 .te3 c6 7 i.d3 b5 many as four defaults and furthermore the strongest players are conspicuous by their 17... ..tf6?! absence. Probably the second-best move. Other "Club tournaments 50 years ago, or replies: even in the 1950s, really meant something. a) 17... W!f c87 or 17... W!fc7? allow 18 Every strong player entered and strove hard tZJcxbS; to win, whereas now, even if tournaments b) 17... � d7 is playable, because White's are started, they hardly ever seem to get intended riposte 1 8 lZJcxbS cxbS 1 9 �xbS finished properly and nobody appears to be "winning the queen" can be answered by very interested in becoming club champion. 19... tZJ xf3+ 20 gxf3 �xd4+ 21 V/Vxd4 "Generally speaking, the introduction of W!fxbS, but then 22 .i.h6 f6 23 i.xf8 l:txfB grading, sponsorship and Swiss tourna­ 24 V/Vxd6 still gives White some initiative, as ments, almost every week in the year, has the rooks are better co-ordinated than the not been good for club and county chess in black minor pieces; this country. Chess at the amateur level c) 17... W!fb8! when Black's position is, in certainly flourished in London before the my opinion, preferable. war when the old Gambit chess rooms in By delaying castling, Black has deprived 1 8 ..txf6 W!fxf6 19 f4 lZJec4 20 ..txc4 Budge Row were packed all day with inter­ White of the traditional Samisch plan of lZJxc4 21 W!ff2 esting chess characters who played the castling long and hurling forward his h­ The game is equal, but Black's next game there merely for the love of it. There pawn. White can now attempt to exploit move is too casual, and underestimates the will never be another Gambit cafe like that Black's lag in development by playing 8 eS attacking potential of the white forces. 21 ... 'l!Ug7 is correct. 21 ... .!:tfeB? 22 b3 ! Decoying the black knight to the edge of the board. 22 ...tZJxa3 23 eS! dxeS 24 lZJe4 Owing to Black's careless 21st, White's attack gains crucial tempi. 24 ...W!fg7 Perhaps Black should head for the end­ game by 24 ...W!f xf4 25 �xf4 exf4 26 lZJf6+ �g7 27 lZJxe8+ .l:!.xe8 28 lZJxc6; but both players felt White would win in the long run. 25 fxeS l:lxeS 26 lZJf6+ Wh8 27 'iWf4 J::[e7 28 lZJxh7! cS Capturing the knight allows a forking check on h4 or f6. 29 tLlf6gs 30 l:txc5! This is what makes playing chess worth­ while and enjoyable. If 30 ...gxf4 31 J::l:hS+ "It's obvious this is his first blindfold display." 'iWh6 32 Jaxh6+ 'ii>g7 33 lZJfS+ and mates.

www.chess.co.uk 39 Black's queenside is still impersonating Rip published two editions of the magazine, van Winkle. with and without Page Three Lady Grand­ 20 d6 'ii'd8 masters. Obviously not 20... 'iV e6? 21 .i.fS fol­ I was expecting to read letters from lowed by 22 'ii'xgS+. harrumphing ex-colonels and retired vicars 21 'iVxgS fxg6 22 tlldS in subsequent issues complaining about the abundance of naked flesh on view in what had for the previous fifty years been a squeaky-clean mag for all the family, but either they had all died of apoplexy or BHW decided not to publish. What letters there were seemed to focus on Aly Amin and his controversial 'Chess for Peace' tournament - probably the least appropriate tourna­ ment name in history, considering the war of words which it spawned. 30 ....l:i.e4 Incidentally, I have advised our present Trying to confuse the issue but there is editor against republishing the aforemen­ a simple path to victory. II tioned photo in the magazine on the 31 'ii'xgS 'iVxgS 32 J:txgS .l:if4 33 J:!.d3 grounds that it is sexist, gratuitous and ex­ 1-0 ploitative. It might even cause nervous 33... l:t.h4 34 J::.dg3 forces mate. readers to expire and, rather more impor­ 22... bS tantly, cease to subscribe. (However, a nod tt::l 'ii' J.C.Benjamin-T.Duster If 22 . xdS 23 .l:txf8 ! xgS 24 .li!.1f7+ and a wink in the shop and a poster-sized, @h6 25 .l:i.h8.The most resilient defence is, high-res copy in a plain wrapper can be Chess for Peace, London 1987 I think, 22... tll h7, but then 23 .l:if7+ .l:ixf7 yours for only a fiver, no questions asked ... ) King 's Indian Defence 24 .l:ixf7+ @xf7 2 5 Wxd8 leaves the black

pieces tied up. He wears short shorts .. . 1 d4 tllf6 2 c4 g6 3 tt::lc3 il.g7 4 e4 d6 5 23 tt::lc7 Coincidentally, there was another story in h3 cs 6 dS 0-0 7 tllf3 e6 8 i..d3 exdS 9 23 tt::le7 only draws: 23 ...W e8 24 tllf5+ the same issue (and amplified in the next exdS .l:ie8+ 10 i.e3 i.h6 11 0-0 i.xe3 @f7 and there is nothing better than per­ one), which related to an insufficiency of 12 fxe3 a6 petual check. clothing, only this time the person causing 1 2 ....l:ixe3 1 3 'ii'd2 gives White a strong 23 ... tllb6 24 .l:txf6! J:!.xf6 25 l:!xf6 .ifs the scandal was a male Caucasian: none attack for the pawn. Black prefers to allow Black cannot recapture because of the other than our very own Nigel Short. This the white e-pawn to stay on the board, fork. was at the 1987 Subotica lnterzonal, which assuming that control of es will give him a 26 tt::le6+ Si..xe6 27 'iVxg6+ @ha 28 was played in the height of summer and 30 solid position. lvkov-Spassky, Buenos Aires Wh6+ @gs 29 l:!g6+ 1-0 degree temperatures. "Nigel bought himself 1979, continued 12... tllbd7 13 e4 .l:if8 14 29 ...@ f7 30 l:t.g7+and 31 'iVh8+ mates. a pair of shorts for comfort, but Ribli pro­ 'iVd2 tlle8 15 .l:if2 'ii'e7 16 'iVf4 and a draw tested whether the bare flesh was distract­ was agreed. Chess for Nudists ing him or he merely wanted to enforce 13 e4 tllbd7 14 'ii'd2 @g7 15�f2 'ii'e7 Regular readers of CHESS Magazine would strict FIDE dress regulations is unclear. Perhaps 15... tllg8 instead, followed by have stared in amazement when turning to Anyway, Short and Speelman agreed to 16.. .f6? page 97 of the July 1987 issue. It featured wear full-length trousers against him and 16 J:!.af1 .l:l.f8 17 eS !? dxeS 18 tt::lgS h6? a full-page colour photo of a statuesque anyone else who objected and the situation young black lady dressed only in a coronet, was defused." draping herself over a white king on a giant­ The event was highly successful for the i. j_ i. sized . BHW's caption was 'they scantily-clad English grandmasters as they are preparing for a chess boom all around shared first place with Sax, and all three � "iV .t. '1f the world', followed by this slightly breath­ qualified for the Candidates' matches held .t. � .t. .t. less sentence: "That's what we decided on the following year. Amongst the players as the caption for this picture (as if anything trailing behind them were Tai, Smyslov and .t. 8 .t. QJ so captivating needed a caption at all!) " the prudish/pernickety Ribli. Whether well­ This was followed by some bizarre and ventilated limbs were the secrets of the 8 seemingly irrelevant stats about the Dubai English success is not recorded. I wonder etJ� 8 Olympiad. Nothing at all about the naked whether Nigel still has the shorts in which he lady's name, age, vital statistics (e.g. grade qualified for the Candidates and if he could 88 � :!8 or rating), or whether she had aspirations to be persuaded to wear them when commen­ become a hairdresser, beautician or woman tating on the London Classic. December in :!� grandmaster. Clearly BH Wood had not been London? On reflection, a daft idea. reading The Sun, so had no idea about how 19 i.xg6! hxgS to caption such material in their distinctive Davies wins Linares Losing alternatives are: style. It was probably just as well that it was Yes, that was a headline from the May a) 19. .fxg6 20 tt::le6+ @h7 21 tt::lxf8+ the 'Bouncing Czech' Robert Maxwell, and 1987 issue. Not the super-tomeo that it 'iVxf8 22 tt::le4 tt::lxe4 2 3 .l:ixf8 tllxd 2 2 4 not the 'Dirty Digger' Rupert Murdoch, who was later to be known for, but a strong, 94- l:!.1f7; ultimately took over ownership of the player open nonetheless. Nigel Davies was b) 19... @ xg6 20 'iVd3+ and White's at­ magazine. Can you imagine? Instead of starting to make a name for himself in tack is too strong, e.g. 20 ...e4 21 tt::lgxe4 separate 'algebraic' and 'descriptive' issues, 1987. Though he found himself propping up tt::lxe4 22 tt::lxe4 fS 23 'ii'g3+ �h7 24 J:!.xfS. Murdoch's people would probably have the table of the double-cycle 1987/88

40 September 201 3 Hastings Premier, he had the consolation of 12 dS now proves to be the bane of White's life. a win over . Earlier, at a strong Maybe White could open up the position 21 ... bxc4 2 2 .tas tournament in Moscow, he had managed to slightly. 1 2 dxe5 tt:lxe5 1 3 .ll.g5 looks pro­ After 22 tt:ld6 l:!b8 23 tt:lxb7 J:!.xb7 the defeat the. young Vishy Anand, and in some mising for White. two black knights and pawn on c4 continue style. 1 2 ...c6 1 3 dxc6 J:!.xc6 14 tt:lgS 'Wic7 1 5 to strangle White's prospects of activity. 'Wid2 White should still probably play 22 a4; any­ V.Anand-N.Davies Your analysis engine may not find the thing to be rid of the activity-stifling pawn next move, but a human can probably guess on c4. Moscow 1987 what it might be. 22... .ll. c6 23 a3 l'Ib8 Pirc Defence 15... J:!.xc3 !? 16 �xc3 �xc3 17 bxc3 23 ....ll. a4 looks more accurate, forcing the king to stay on the vulnerable b-file to 1 e4 d6 2 d4 g6 3 tt:lc3 .ll.97 4 .ll.e3 a6 5 maintain the defence of the c2-pawn. h4 tt:lf6 6f3 bS 7 �d2 .ll.b7 8 0-0-0 hS !. 24 �a2 .ll.a4 25 .l:!.c1 ? 9 tt:lh3 tt:lbd7 10 �b1 J:k8 11 'ife1 Here the computer suggests a prag­ A couple of subsequent games have i.i. matic gaol-break with 25 J:!.b1 1 .ll.xc2 and proceeded with the bolder 11 tt:lg5 0-0 1 2 �i now giving back the exchange with 26 g4!?, but perhaps castling on move 11 is a .ll.xc4! l:lc8 27 .ll.b3 .ll.xb1 + 28 J:!.xb1, little too committal for Black. i tZJi when the white bishops are finally clear of 11 ... es clerical gaol, and White has finally achieved a 8 8 reasonable position. 8 25 ... .ll.h6 26 .ll.d2 �8 The alternative 26 J:!.b1 was still possi­ 8 8 ble, though not quite as good as on the pre­ vious move. 1l � 1l 26 ... .ll.xd2 27 tt:lxd2 tt:le3 White's pieces are back behind bars. A positional exchange sacrifice. Without 28 .ll.e2 J:!.d8! queens it looks rather nebulous, but Black Driving away the knight before captur­ soon exerts a grip. ing on c2, so that he can retain the killer 17... dS 18 exdS pawn on c4. Htarcs wants to try 18 c4 here, but af­ 29 tt:lf1 tt:lxc2 30 @b2 ter 1 8 ... bxc4 White is still a bit constricted. I 30 �b1 was better, but still probably suppose the point is that it doesn't allow the losing after 30 ... tt:ld4 31 .ll.xc4 J:!.b8! 32 black knights to become as active as after .ll.xa6 tt:lc4+ 33 @a1 tt:lb3+, etc. the text. 18... tt:lxdS 19 .ll.d2 tt:l7b6 The semi-trained monkeys of Mega Database have typed in the vastly inferior 19... tt:l7f6 as the i move played here, but it clearly wasn't. 8 On b6 the knight has access to a4 (from where it can attack c3), restrains c2-c4 and keeps the g 7 - bishop clear to fire down the long diago­ 30... c3+! nal. This rather wonderful pawn has com­ 20 tt:le4 0-0 21 pleted its prophylactic task; now it's time to c4? put the boot in. White makes a 31 @a2 rod for his own back. If 31 @xc3 llld5+ 32 @c4 tt:ld4! and H1arcs plumps for 21 the king won't get out alive. a4!? when 21 .tt:lxa4 31 ... tt:ld4 32 .ll.d3 .ll.b3+ 33 @a1 tt:ldS 22 c4 bxc4 23 .ll.xc4 34 .ll.e4 tt:le2 35 .ltxdS J:!.xd5 36 l:te1 obtains some activity tt:ld4 3 7 l:lc1 tt:le2 for White. Of course, 37 ... tt:lc2+ 38 Wb1 tt:lxa3+ 39 �a1 Black is not obliged to tt:lc4 is even more crushing. capture on c4 and 38 J:!.e1 li!.d3 0-1 White's f1 -bishop Had I been Black in this game, I would could be as con­ have taken the c3-pawn home as a souvenir stricted as in the and put it in a place of honour on the man­ Nigel Da vies, winner at Linares 7 98 7 - not the strongest game. Black's captur­ telpiece with a small inscription: "the pawn event ever held in Linares but still a very fin e result. ing the pawn on c4 that beat a world champion". www.chess.co.uk 41 How Good is Your Chess?

by Grandmaster Daniel King

Once you get over 40, life is tough for a 1 c4 es 2 e3 l2Jf6 3 l2Jc3 il.b4 4 l2Jge2 I am a big fan of the system: chess professional. Ask Anand. In the first half 0-0 S a3 il.xc3 6 l2Jxc3 dS 7 cxdS you wait behind the first three ranks, tempt of 201 3 the World Champion played in six lLlxdS 8 '1Wc2 cs 9 il.e2 i.e6 10 0-0 your opponent to overextend, and then hit tournaments, but only won one, the weakest, l2Jxc3 11 '1Wxc3 '1Wd6 them with a pawn break that unleashes the in Baden-Baden. Things were different a full force of your pieces into the shell of the decade ago; but a decade ago his mind was enemy position. Mmm. Just give me a mo­ less cluttered. You can afford to be more ment while I enter a reverie of glorious single-minded when you don't have a family Hedgehog victories ... Sorry, lost myself for a to consider. At that time Anand, for all his moment there. Back to the position at hand achievements, was still gaining his reputation; and some objectivity must come into play. In now he is trying to protect it. this case it's not the best Hedgehog I've Our game this month features another ever seen: the exchange of minor pieces has hardened professional, somewhat older than robbed White's position of its dynamism, Anand. Nigel Short still plays regularly on the and with Black developed and the queen tournament circuit, perhaps choosing his standing oddly on c3, it will be difficult to hit events more carefully than he used to, but out at the centre. Even the pawn on b3 with impressive results, as his current rating could become vulnerable. of 2681 suggests. Recently, as we've seen in these pages, he shared first place at the Si­ 12... l2Jd7 geman tournament in Sweden, featuring a mix of battle-scarred professionals like Ivan 12 b4 Sokolov and , rising stars such Fo ur points. Break out! Black has con­ as Richard Rapport from Hungary, and Short's structed the so-called Maroczy Bind with opponent here, from Sweden. pawns on cs and eS, and White rightly takes Short's openings are more pragmatic the opportunity to lash out at the pawns than they used to be: he rarely takes on his straightaway. opponents in theoretical battles, but prefers 1 2 f4 (three points) also makes sense, to surprise them and avoid potential prepara­ in order to open up the long diagonal for the tion (rather like Magnus Carlsen). This game dark-squared bishop. Black should continue opens 1 c4 eS 2 e3. On move two, already a 1 2 ...exf4 13 l:txf4 l2ld7 14 b4 f6. A tricky relatively rare move. But why not? This is position. If White were better developed I basically a Sicilian reversed and in that case would say he had the advantage, but here moving the e-pawn is completely normal. the queen is a bit vulnerable on the c-file. Short gets no real advantage from the If you were content to construct a typi­ opening, but the position is complicated, and cal Hedgehog position with 1 2 b3 or 1 2 d3 he presents his opponent with some chall­ (just one point for either move), then Black 13 i.b2 enging strategic decisions. In the end Short's can relax: for example, 1 2 b3 l2Jc6 1 3 il.b2 Two points. Keep it simple - develop superior positional judgement is the key. .l:!.fd8 1 4 J:!.fd1 .!:tac8. and hold the tension. 1 3 bxcS would be Cover the page with a card or sheet of premature, in view of 1 3 ...tt:l xcS. The knight paper, lowering it gradually to reveal a line at looks at some inviting squares in White's a time. Begin after the first diagram. When­ i. i. position. ever Black has moved, stop and try to guess White's reply which will be on the next line. 13... l:lacS Try to analyse as much as you would in a game - it could earn you bonus points. The 14 .l:!.ac1 article will test your standard of play or, if Three points. Just to make it clear, if you prefer, just enjoy a fine game. Black plays 14... cxb4 White will respond with 1 S 'ifVxb4 'ifVxb4 1 6 axb4, with a positional advantage: the two bishops, a central pawn N.Short-N.Grandelius majority and the chance to carry out a minor­ Malmo 201 3 ity attack on the queenside. That almost Englis h Op ening sounds decisive! It's actually a long way from it, but White certainly stands better.

42 September 201 3 14 f4 (two points) is still worth consid­ 1 5 f4 (two points) is similar to lines we queen to roam. I don't think White is worse ering. Black would respond with 14.. .f6, considered previously - and a decent op­ (21 l:lc3 will defend), but he has to be care­ which is solid enough. tion. ful. Black's rook on the c-file is a little men­ However, 1 5 d4 is not very good: acing, but 14 b5 would be an over-reaction, 1 5 ... cxd4 16 �xc8 J:1.xc8 1 7 .l:l.xc8+ lZ:if8, 17 exd4 taking all the pressure off the centre. and because White needs to waste a tempo One point moving the rook, Black is doing well. De­ 14... f6 pending on White's response he can either 17... c4 This is an important and difficult mo­ take on e3 or push with ... d3. I can understand why Black chose this ment in the game. White has brought his Likewise, 15 bxc57 is definitely not the continuation in place of the variation above: pieces out, but now must choose between right move: 15... Iixc5, and the queen feels isn't Black better? He is about to blockade several different plans. the heat. on d5, White's dark-squared bishop is bur­ ied behind the pawn on d4 and one day the 15... b6 c-pawn could turn into a powerful asset. Let's see ...

15 �f3 Th ree points. Claiming the longest di­ agonal on the board. It wouldn't be very 16 d4 good if Black were able to with Three points. No hesitation. Short takes 18 bS 1 5 ... �d5, but White is able to respond with the fight to his opponent. Five points. The fight-back starts here. 1 6 �d3 lZ:ib6 17 bxc5 J:!.xc5 18 e4, pinning 16 J:!.fd1 and 16 J:Ife1 keep options First, Black is prevented from playing ... b5 and winning. open and both deserve a point, but is this himself which would have secured the c­ That line made me consider 1 5 'i¥d3 (in­ vacillation, or masterly inactivity' Only you pawn and given the knight an excellent stead of the game move). If Black steps know. square on b6. The pawn push also begins away from the exchange with 1 5 ...'i¥ b6, 1 6 �b 7 (one point) appeals to me. the rehabilitation of the dark-squared then I start to like White's position after 1 6 Frankly, I would be amazed if anyone else bishop. '&'e4. Instead, the ending is the best option: had the same warped thought. First, it 18 a4 (three points) has the same in­ 1 5 ... '&'xd3 1 6 �xd3. would be a mistake to reply 1 6 ... l:t.b8, taking tention, though JUSt for a moment is a bit the rook away from the c-file, so, 16.. .lk7 looser. and now my idea is 1 7 ..lle4. A provocative 1 8 d5 is tempting, but poor. 18... �xd5 move, hoping that Black will push it away would be met by 1 9 .l:!.fd1 , but instead with 17... f5; the bishop drops back, 18 19.. ..ll f5, aiming for the d3-square, perhaps �b1, and suddenly Black is looking distinctly followed by ... l2Je5, is promising for Black. vulnerable on the long diagonal. Instead, Nothing for 18J:!.fe1 allowing 18... bS. Black should hold firm with 17... .l:!.fc8, and if necessary protect h7 with ...lZ:i fB. 18... �dS

16... exd 4 Objectively, 1 6 d4 was perhaps not the best continuation, but it's a good example of bold play changing the nature of the posi­ tion and upsetting a player's equilibrium. Black chooses a continuation which, on the surface, looks quite promising; the reality is I like the two bishops, but 1 6 ...lZ:i b6, somewhat different. Instead he ought to preparing ...lZ:i a4 and ...J:l:d8 is a bit awkward. have played 1 6 ...cxd4 1 7 'iVxc8 J:!.xc8 1 8 There are slower moves. I quite like 1 5 l:!.xc8+ lZ:ifB. This is a tough position to as­ d3 (two points) with the simple idea of sess. Generally two rooks are better than a playing 'i¥d2, removing the queen from queen, but perhaps not here. First White trouble on the c-file. It's not as positive as must deal with the threat to the rook, so Short's strategy, but it's not clear what let's try 19 J:!.c2, but 19... dxe3 20 fxe3 Black is doing in the meantime. 'iVd3, and Black's queen has plenty of tar­ 1 5 .l:i.fd 1 (two points) is also reasonable, gets. Black's pawn chain, g7, f6, and e5, 19 l::tfe1 keeping options open. Putting a rook oppo­ shuts out the dark-squared bishop, and his Fi ve points. Another excellent move. site the enemy queen is usually a good idea. minor pieces defend the king, allowing the While Black is busy blockading the d-pawn, www.chess.co.uk 43 White seizes the e-file. The alternatives the d-file, I would also consider doubling on similar to the game. don't quite match. the e-file, so two points for 21 I:ie3,though

19 ..txdS? 'ilixdS provides another fine the game continuation is more promising. 2 5 . ..h 5 example of how it is often better to let your Before you consider your response to opponent exchange than rush in and do it 21 ...lL'lfB this, how were you going to meet 2S... l: xdS yourself. Black's queen stands far better on 26 �xdS i.xdS? Answer on the next line. a light square than on d6. 22 i.a3 One point. By now, no big surprise. The There are several ways to win, but the 19... �fdS bishops slice through the heart of Black's simplest is 27 g3 �gs 28 .llc1 , and the Before you consider your response to position. queen has run out of safe squares (two this, instead, if Black had played 1 9 J::tfe8, points) . how would you reply' Answer on the next 2 2 ...1//U f4 line. i.

26 d6 23 h3 Fo ur points. A forced win is in sight and White can play 20 'il'b4! (two points) , Two points. The bishop needed defend­ some calculation is needed. I also like 26 g3 and this illustrates well why 19 �fe1 was ing so White must take a time-out from his (four points) , pushing the queen to an even preferred to 19 a4. Here 20 ...'il' xb4 will be strategy, but this at least improves White's worse square. met by a zwischenschach, so Black is forced position a little. Now there are no back-rank This is more to the point than 26 .llxhS to play 20 ... l:.e6, and now 21 �xd6 J:rxd6 tricks. Therefore 23 i.h3 is less good, and 11/UgS which allows Black to limp on (the 22 ..ltg4 gives White a pleasant endgame: the ending after 23 �g3 �xg3 24 hxg3 knight could enter the game via f4 or eS). the rook is ready to enter on the seventh, �f7 is quite playable for Black. 26 .lle6 is also playable, but not convincing. and just wait until bishop no.2 enters the No points for either. game on the a3-f8 diagonal. 23 ... ..tf7 26 ... hxg4 20 ..tg4 24 J:!.cd 1 Four points. White avoids the exchange Two points. Simply defending the d­ of bishops just in time. pawn. Black cannot easily shake off White's Instead 20 a4 (one point) 20 ...ii. xf3 21 pressure. 'il'xf3 lL'lf8, and Black is straightening him­ self out. And in this case 20 �b4 lL'lf8 24 ...lLlg6 wouldn't do White much good either.

20 ...li!.c7

27 g3 Fi ve points. Subtle and strong. The queen is forced to a worse square. Instead 27 dxc7 (no points) 27 ...1//U xc7 28 J:Ixd8+ �xd8 29 hxg4 is, of course, better for White, but still requires a lot of 25 d5 work to win. Three pmnts. Powering through. What a 27 �d4 �cd7 28 �xf4 lL'lxf4 is also picture of centralisation. Black's position rather messy. 21 a4 was not easy, but it is clear that retreating Fo ur points. Quite a transformation is the bishop from dS was an error. 27... � e5 taking place. The bishop on b2 lives again. White could also throw in 2S g3 before Instead, 27 �fS 28 dxc7 J:.xd1 28 Now that Black has moved his rook to pushing: 2S.. �gs 26 dS (three points) is l:txd1 leaves White with a winning position.

44 September 201 3 29... !!.e8 he had misjudged the resulting position. How Short succeeded in taking control !. • was impressive, first improving the situation i !. j_ I. of the dark-squared bishop (18 bS), then i 8 preserving the bishop-pair (20 .tg4). From i 8 i� that moment it is extraordinary how quickly i Black fell into difficulties. Rewinding a few 8 'iV moves, it is clear that Black should have 8 i i 8 played 19. . . .txf3 before the bishop ran 8 away, and in that case he would have had a � VJif 88 better chance of defending. � 8 Now add up your points: 8 ss � 0-12 Unlucky ss � 13-25 Average Club Player 28 'i!Uxe5 26-38 Strong Club Player Fo ur points. Strangely enough, this is far 30 li:!.xe5 1-0 39-46 County Player more convincing than 28 J:txeS (one point) . One point After 30 . .fxeS 31 l:td8 the 47-53 FIDE Master The rook on d1 remains protected. pawn promotes. 30 .l:r.d8 (one point) also 48-54 International Master wins. 55-61 Grandmaster 28 ... tt:lxe5 1 6 d4 was bold and gave Black a difficult Ifyou have any questions regarding this 29 dxc7 choice of replies, each leading to quite differ­ article, please contact Daniel directly One point ent situations. Grandelius chose incorrectly - through his website www. danielking. biz.

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www.chess.co.uk 45 Never Mind the Grand masters ...

by Carl Portman

It is one of the delights of our great game mask at the board, so I think the best policy bishops and what the pawn formations that not only can we get close to our he­ is just to stick to what you know and play would look like. Thus I did not want to swap roes; we can actually play against them. your best moves. off merely for the sake of it. Imagine that occurring in football or tennis. I 2 d4 dS 3 ltJc3 ltJf6 4 �gs �e7 s es 16 'Wif2lbxd4 17 �xd4 �c7 18 0-0 recently organised a simultaneous display lbfd7 with Grandmaster Danny King who happens I was tempted to play 5 ...ltJ e4 as the to be a very popular columnist in this maga­ Tartakower Variation is a. favourite of mine. zine. I hope he won't mind me writing about 6 �xe7 'Wixe7 7 f4 our game, so in the true spirit of this col­ umn, I present it below from a club player's point of view. I always annotate my games as objectively as I can, and so I give the notes in that spirit. I was delighted to organise a simultane­ ous event with Danny, some 20 years after the first time we did this in Shropshire. Time flies and I look older, but he looks younger. Curse his dashed good looks. This time the venue was my local village hall in Hanwell where he played against 20 people including ·yours truly. Organising and playing could At last, someone castles. It's perfectly easily be construed as a form of self-harm, safe, of course, in this position and there is but I had waited 20 years for this moment. I no way I can form any attack. Now I had to certainly wanted to play a better game than be mindful of my own king and decide what I did in 1993 where I got absolutely crushed I do think this is the best move against to do with it.

in a disgusting Owen's Defence. In the likely this system, and it's certainly the most ag­ 18..• lba4 19 .l:tae1 event that I lost, I was at least determined gressive. White's rooks are the more active. to put up better resistance this time, and I 7 ... cs 8 lbf3lbc6 9 dxcS lbxcS 10 'il'd2 19... 'Wib6 would not be playing any rubbish in the I was afraid of 1 0 lbb5 here, with the I decided to take my chances with the opening. intention of placing the knight firmly on d6. queens off. It isn't a crime, is it? I should note that the simul took place This would have been a great irritant. 20 '!Wxb6 lbxb621 ltJd4ltJc4 22 .l:ta1

on one of the hottest days of the year. 1 o ... a6 11 a3 bS 1 2 b4 ltJd7 Alternatively, 22 �xc4 dxc4 23 l:la1 Danny and I both agreed that had we known After 12... ltJ e4 13 lbxe4 dxe4 14 lbg5 <;i:;e7 24 c3 and White will push the a-pawn, what the weather would be like, a themed 0-0 1 5 lbxe4 White is better. setting me some problems. simul would have been the order of the day. 13 �d3 �b7 14 lbe2 22 ... lbb6 23 93 l:tc8 24 @f2 ltJa4 2S Something like Hawaiian shirts and shorts One should note that neither side has <;i:;e3 only. What would FIDE think of this heresy? castled. Even when there is a gulf in class, I had visions of Nigel Short's audacious As it was, I respectfully wore a shirt and tie, some basic chess themes can be employed king march against Jan Timman here, but and melted as the minutes ticked by. Why by both sides. To castle is to declare your stayed calm and cool, even in the heat. Don't did I wear a tie asked several of the gath­ hand and give the opponent the green light panic, Carl. Note that 25 ttJxb57 doesn't ered throng. As I have always said: "Times to commit his forces to the dedicated task work, in view of 25 ... axb5 26 �xb5+ �c6. change, standards shouldn't". of attacking your king. This way, we keep 2S .....ltc6 26 h3 ..ltd7 ltJb327 We7 each other guessing, at least for a short There is no castling for me then, break­ time. ing one of the (castle early), D.King-C.Portman 14... 96 but as we know there must always be ex­ Hanwell (simul) 201 3 I did not want to deal with that f4-f5 ceptions to the rules. French Defence break. 28 @d4 J::!.c7 29 g4 1 S lbed4ltJb6 Danny later said he thought this was too 1 e4 e6 The knights are jostling for the best early and I can see why, but he was playing Of course it is a real challenge to play squares. All the time I was mindful that 1 9 other people to be fair.

someone who actually creates training Danny would be looking much further 29 •• .l:kc8?! DVDs on openings. There's no way to sur­ ahead, perhaps towards the endgame, and I considered too the immediate 29... h5. prise Danny apart from wearing a clown deciding whether he wanted knights or 30 .:n hS 31 J;J.91 hxg4 32 hxg4 �h4

46 September 201 3 This seems logical. With the white king Danny said, "Are any of us getting any­ There used to be lots of simuls up and on the fourth rank I want to prevent f4-f5. where here?", to which I replied that I didn't down the country, but these days I see pre­ 33 tt:Jcs think so and we agreed the draw. I was de­ cious few. I wonder why that is7 Are the lighted not just to get a positive result, but GMs asking for too much money? Is there that I had played a much better game and no appetite amongst club players? I don't restored some of my own pride. As ever, believe either to be true and although we all Danny was magnanimous at every board, lead busy lives, I would implore clubs to test and as gentlemanly as I and the other play­ the water and try to organise a simultane­ ers expected he would be. The score was ous exhibition. It is not only the opportunity 17-3 in the end, as he lost two (dropping a to play a GM, but also to give them grass piece in one game), and drew two. roots feedback. Events like this are about more than the Could there be a more pleasurable way chess. There is an innate sense of camara­ to spend a summer's afternoon? Playing derie amongst the players to see if someone chess (your passion, right?) against a celeb­ can get a result, to test the metal of the rity GM, a plate of delicious cake and a master. Everyone had a good time and the cuppa to keep you going, accompanied by atmosphere was convivial and friendly. the occasional sigh or moan as a piece is left Don't make the mistake though of look­ en prise. I took a moment to look around at ing at the alluring smile of the Grandmaster my colleagues battling on every board, and I suspect that Danny just wanted to and believing them to be a 'nice person'. Like battle they did. Battle-hardened chess lov­ take the plunge and get on with finishing anyone at that level they are hardwired to ers were moving deftly with grim determi­ the game. After all, the afternoon was mov­ kill. They continually search and probe for a nation, and there were still 11 boards going ing on and he must have been getting at chink in your armour and when, for it usually after three and half hours. least a little tired, though he didn't look it. is when, they have the first opportunity, Here were like-minded amateurs, pre­ 33 ...tt:JxcS 34 bxcS Wd8 they lunge at the throat of the wounded pared to die on their feet rather than live on I needed to transfer the king to the beast that is your position. their knees, and when the 20 battles were queenside to stop any tricks with him get­ Though such behaviour at the board is all finished and the smoke of war had exited ting his king over to my pawns. part of their DNA, some, like Danny, will the doors of the village hall, I could still hear 35 �e2 Wc7 36 �f3 li!.ch8 37 li!.fg2 offer comforting words of advice and per­ the sound of marching pawns, galloping �h3 38 �g3 �xg3 39 �xg3 �h2 40 haps show a line or two at the board which knights and great kings commanding their �g2 .l:lh4 41 c3 is very commendable. Grandmasters rightly armies to sally forth. May it always be so. Danny paused before removing his fin­ want to find 'the truth' in the position and gers from the piece, possibly seeing that we amateurs wish to do likewise, however Chess & Bridge can helpyou organise a now the king cannot go to c3, but the posi­ we stumble through the analysis, often de­ simultaneous display at your club. Just con­ tion is drawn as it stands. luding ourselves that our position was bet­ tact Matt@chess. co. uk or call 0207-288- 41 ...Wc6 42 �h3 �ca Y:.-Y:. ter than the truth would reveal. 1305.

Danny King in action in Han well www.chess.co.uk 47 Home News

CRAWLEY - The Weald Congress (1 3-14 PENARTH - The South Wales International A calm retreat and the point behind July) attracted over 1 00 players including (1 4-1 9 July) took place in Penarth, inviting, Black's sacrifice. one IM, and resulted in plenty of success for as has become traditional, two Bulgarian 19 .l:!fe1 Kent, Surrey and Sussex juniors. Grandmasters as well as Keith Arkell and 19 l:tfc1 !? looks like a better try, giving Open: 1-2 David Graham (Worthing), Ge­ Peter Wells. The normally solid Craig Hanley the king a further square, although matters diminas Sarakauskas (Guildford) 4/5, 3-4 didn't draw a single game, bouncing back remain rather unclear after 19 ."ifh4 20 Matthew Payne (Worthing), Jude Lenier from losses to Petkov and Andrew Greet to 'ii>f1 'ii'xf4+ 21 .tf3 'ii'h4 22 .tgs 'l!Vh7 23 (Hastings) 3Y2. overcome Peter Wells in the final round and 'ii'e3. Major: 1-2 Joshua Higgs (Crawley), Trefor so tie for first. 19... '1Wh4 20 Wf1 'l!Vxf4+! Owens (Sittingbourne) 4Y2, 3-4 Tom Bor­ Leading Scores 1 -4 Craig Hanley (Bas­ A neat blow (21 ..ltxf4? l:th1 ismate), land (Haywards Heath), Jan Lawrance ingstoke), Jonathan Hawkins (London), but not one which should have been deci­ (Crowborough) 3Y,. Vladimir Petkov, Marijan Petrov (both BUL) sive. Intermediate: 1 Phil Foley (Upminster) 4Y2, 7/9. 21 ..tf3 '*1Vc4+ 22 ..te2? 2-4 Michael Green (Woodnesborough), Badly overestimating his .tg1 defence. � '1W Gwilym Price (Godalming), Paul Smith J.Hickman-C.Hanley 22 d3 was correct and after 22... xc2 (Hastings) 4. 23 ..te2 'l!Vxd3 24 .txd3 e4 25 .1l.e2 lllf6 Minor: 1-5 Daniel Finn (Bexhill), Alan Fraser Round 2 Black would have enjoyed reasonable com­ (Beckenham), David Archer (Godalming), Siolian Na;dorf pensation for the piece. Cheuk Nam Wong (Coulsdon), Emily Green 22 ...:l,h1 + 23 ..1¥..91 "ifh4 (Woodnesborough) 4. 1 e4 cs 2 lllf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 lllxd4 Suddenly there's a large threat to cap­ lllf6 s lllc3 a6 6 ..te3 es 7 lllb3 ..lte6 8 ture on g1 . LEEDS - Tournament chess is making a f3 hS 24 .1l.f3 ..te7 2S lllas e4 welcome return to the Yorkshire city with A practical choice and one which is Decisively introducing more units into the British Rapidplay back there, as well as a growing in popularity. Black simply prevents the attack. weekender (13-14 July) now in its third White from blowing him away with a rapid 26 lllxb7 tlleS 27 'ii'd4 J::!.xc2 28 ..te2 year. g4-g5. 'iVf4+0-1 Open: 1-3 Charlie Storey (Jesmond), Laur­ 9 ..te2lll bd7 10 0-0 J:k8 11 a4 ..te712 ·ence Webb (), Mike Surtees (Bol­ Wh1 Jack Rudd's games are always entertain­ ton) 4/5. This provokes some wonderfully ing, but here for once he found himself on Major: 1 Andy Jaques (Burnley) 5, 2-4 aggressive play from Hanley. Instead 1 2 the wrong end of an attack. Harry Baxter (Alwoodley), Clive Davies �d2 g6 1 3 as h4 14 lllc1 �c7 1 5 .Sd1 (Leeds), Jose Lopez (Denton) 4. @ ..lt @ ..t 'ii' f8 16 f1 g7 17 f2 l:tcd8 18 e1 P. Wells-J.Rudd Intermediate: 1 -3 Firas Almazedi, Dave l:,de8 saw both sides jockeying for position Parton (both Leeds), John Saxton (Brad­ in that classic modern Najdorf encounter, Round 6 ford) 4. Morozevich-Sadler, Reykjavik 1999. Nimzo -!n dian Defence Minor: 1 Michael Snowdon (Rotherham) 12... h4!? 13 '¥Yd2 tllhS 14 tlldS ..11..xdS 4Y2, 2 Matthew Best (Shrewsbury) 4, 3-4 1S exdS fS 1 d4 tllf6 2 c4 e6 3 lllc3 ..ltb44 e3 b6 s Paul Cooper (Burton-on-Trent), Boris Ga­ Usually in the English Attack it's White lllge2 ..ta6 6 lllg3 ..txc3+ 7 bxc3 cS?! ranins (Poulton) 3Y2. who attacks on the kingside, but not here. Amazingly this is a novelty, although 16 f4 lllg3+!? perhaps we shouldn't be so surprised as it LONDON - The latest Golders Green Continuing his ambitious stance. doesn't prevent White gaining further Rapidplay took place 1 3 July, resulting in 16 .. lllxf4 17 .txf4 exf4 18 llld4 g6 looks space. Instead 7 .. dS 8 ..lta3 was the famous success for a Kenyan visitor from Bristol a little suspicious, but may not be so bad for game Portisch-Fischer, Siegen Olympiad ahead of a Grandmaster attempting to Black. 1970. warm up for the British. 17 hxg3 hxg3+ 18 @g1 .tf8 8 e4 0-0 9 ..td3 lllc6 1 o ..tgs h6 11 h4! Open: 1 Humphrey Andolo (Bristol) 6/6, 2- 3 Chris Ward (Wood Green), Samuel Walker (High Wycombe) 4Y2. .i � .ie Major: 1 Azizur Rahman (llford) 6, 2 Mark Littleton (Wimborne) 4Y2. ' ' '' Minor: 1-2 Stanislav Pastukhov (Bucks), .i.i'J) ·� ' Federico Rocco (Hendon) 5. Amateur: 1 Surjit Dhemrait (Harrow) SY2, 2 ' � Jean-Claude Sartenaer (London) 5. In the absence of our former columnist BBB B Peter Lalic, to whom we extend warm B� wishes for his new career in the police force, � Pawel Madynski and Conrad Allison tied for B BB first on 4Y2/S in the Hampstead U2200 Congress (20- 21 July). s �� s

48 September 201 3 Wells is quick to exploit his favourable U-1 1 Championship: 1 Koby Kalavannan Greet (Glasgow), Mark Hebden (Leicester), Samisch-type set-up. (Coulsdon) 6/7, 2-5 Gabriel Balouka-Myers Simon McCullogh (Sandhurst), Mark Talbot 11... cxd4 12 cxd4 hxgS? 13 hxgS g6 (Hendon), Nugith Jayawarna (Ashton), An­ (Wigan) 5. 14 es antha Anilkumar (Coulsdon), Charlie Week 2 Rapidplay: 1 Bogdan Lalic (Croa­ Spurning the knight as he knows Black Mclaren (Wotton Hall) SY,;Gir ls' Champion: tia) SY2/6, 2-S Daniel Fernandez, Andrew won't escape down the h-file. Sharon Daniel (Bolton) 5. Horton (both Manchester), Simon Mccul­ 14... tll h7 15 J:!:xh7! dS U-1 0 Championship: 1 Sacha Brazel (Bar­ logh (Sandhurst), Mike Surtees (Great It's mate after 1 5 ...'it' xh7 16 �h5+ net) 6/7, 2-5 Omeet Atara (Yateley), Aditya Lever) 5. 'it'g7 17� h6+ Wg8 18 lllh5. Verma (llford), David Xu (Barnet), Riyaan Atkins Weekender: 1 Mike Basman (Surbi­ 16 'ifg4 lllxeS 17 'ifh4 lllxd3+ 18 �d2 Yesudian (Chester) SY,; Girls' Champion: ton) 5/5, 2-6 Tom Farrand (Wood Green), fS 19'i!Vh6 Laura Davidson (Sandhurst), Mahima Martin Clancy (Ringwood), Allan Pleasants Black will hardly escape after this, but if Raghavendran (Atherton), Arushi Ramaiya (Weymouth), John Fletcher (Sheffield), Oleg he wanted to force the fastest mate, 1 9 (Wimbledon) 4Y,. Cukovs (Poulton-le-Fylde) 3Y2 . .l:!.h1 was the way to go. U-9 Championship: 1 leysaa Bin-Suhayl 19... 'ifx gS+ 20 'i!VxgS �xh7 21 .la.h1+ (Cambridgeshire) 6Y2, 2-3 llya Misyura, Alex­ WORCESTER - The Worcestershire Con­ Wg7 22 lllhS+ Wf7 23 'iff6+ We8 24 ander Jamieson (both Richmond) 6; Girl's gress took place at the county town's Uni­ 'ii'xe6+ �dB 25 lllf6 1-0 Champion: Srinidhi Dwarakanathan (llford) 5. versity (20-21 July), and raised fSOO for U-8 Championship: 1-S William Golding Leukaemia CA RE SNODLAND - Chris Ward went one better (Ashtead), Ranesh Ratnesan (Kingston), Chris­ Open: 1 Stoyan Ivanov () 4Y2/S, 2- despite a first-round bye in a strong Kentish topher Tombolis (West London), Haolin Zhao 3 Philip Hayward (Oxford), Alan Young (Lla­ rapidplay (20 July). (Coulsdon), Srinidhi Dwarakanathan (llford - nelli) 4. Leading Scores. 1-2 Andrew Mayhew Girls' Champion) 5/6. Major: 1 Joshua Higgs (Crawley) 4, 2-7 (Gravesend), Chris Ward (Wood Green) U-1 80 Championship: 1 Chris Doran Richard George (Cirencester), Christopher 5/6, 3-5 Alan Merry (Bury St Edmunds), Ian (Chester) 4Y,/5, 2-6 Nicholas Fallowfield Lewis (Newport), Duncan Macarthur (Keyn­ Snape (Beckenham), Martin Taylor (Rain­ (Stourbridge), Richard Bowman (Bradford), sham), Brendan O'Gorman (London), David ham) 4Y2. Mark Whitehead (Rochdale), Christopher Roberts (Worcester), Marek Soszynski Archer-Lock (Maidenhead), Brendan (Sutton Coldfield) 3Y,. TORQUAY - The British Championships (28 O'Gorman (London) 3Y2. Intermediate 1 David Gilbert (London) July - 1 0 August) aren't, of course, anything U-1 60 Championship: 1-2 William Gra­ 4Y,, 2 Christine Constable (Bude) 4, 3-4 like all about the Championship proper, with ham (Worthing), Andrew MacQueen (Giff­ Mark Forknall (Cheltenham), Andrew Wig­ the junior championships being as strong nuck) 4Y,/5, 3-4 Martin Bush (Wantage), gins (Redditch) 3Y,. and fiercely competitive as ever. Elsewhere Dave Stothard (Hull) 4. Minor: 1-2 Alan Fraser (Beckenham), Rob the Seniors' Championship continues to U-1 40 Championship: 1-2 Jeffrey Sutton (Worcester) 4Yi, 3 Kim Andrews grow in strength, and overall this year the Fleischer (Croydon), Robert Willoughby (Wigan) 4. congress boasted a record entry ( 1190 (West Nottingham) 'entrants' and almost 800 individual play­ 4Y,/5, 3-5 Gwilym Price ers), which should prove a timely boost to (Godalming), Owen Ben­ the ECF's coffers. nett (Carleon), Timothy Major Open: 1 Matthew Dignam (Berk­ Allen (Battersea) 4. hamsted - winning £1,000 and the Dundee U-1 20 Championship: trophy) 8Y2/1 1, 2 Rob Willmoth (Hendon) 1 Alex Hark (Bristol) 8, 3-5 Jeremy Menadue (Truro), Alistair Hill 5/5, 2 -6 John Ashworth (Battersea), Shayamel Patel (London) 7Y2. (Wotton Hall), Stephen Seniors' Championship: 1 -4 David Crockett (Redd itch), Friedgood (London), Roger Emerson (Guild­ William Curry (Fareham), ford), Graham Chesters (Hull), Paul Timson John Peate (Rotham­ (Clitheroe) SY2; Ladies' Champion: Dinah stead), Caroline Robson Norman (Wokingham), Gillian Moore (Enfield) 4. (Southampton) 2Y2. Senior U-1 50 Cham­ U-1 6 Championship: 1 Ollie Wilson (Hast­ pionship: 1 John Gorodi ings) SY2/7, 2-3 Katherine Shepherd (Teignmouth) 4/5, 2 -S (Ashtead - Girls' Champion) Paul Calderon Timothy Allen (Batter­ (Richmond - U-1 5 Champion) 5. sea), Gary Hewitt (Dar­ U-1 4 Championship: William Claridge­ lington), Robert Taylor Hansen (Aylesbury) 6/7, 2 Daniel Gallagher (Ashfield), David Tid­ (Maldon) 5Y2, 3 Michael Ashworth (Wotton marsh (Tunbridge Wells) Hall) 5; Girls' Champion: Anna Wang (Cow­ 3Y,. ley) 4. Senior U-130 Cham­ U-1 3 Championship: Dion Huang pionship: 1 Graham (Westminster School) 6Y2/7, 2 Richard Zhu Shepherd (Church Stret­ (Camberley) 5, 3-7 Daniel Gallagher (Mal­ ton) 5/5, 2-4 Timothy don), Girianth Haridas (Dulwich), Joshua Crouch (King's Head), Higgs (Crawley), David Liu (Tonbridge) Derek Simpson (Berk­ Alyssa Wang (Cardiff - Girls' Champion) 4Y,. hamsted), Stanley John­ U-1 2 Championship: 1 Akshaya Kalaiyala­ son (South Shields) 3Yi. han (Coulsdon - also Girls' Champion) Week 1 Rapidplay: 1 6Y2/7, 2-3 Girianth Haridas (Dulwich), Koby Danny Gormally (Aln­ The well-known /st Da vid Frie dgood Kalavannan (Coulsdon) 5Yi. wick) 6/6, 2 -5 Andrew tied for first in the British Senior Championship www.chess.co.uk 49 The Day Chess Came and Went

by Roger Noble

Not in Hull, it never did! 20 July 201 3, Hull Library documentary on the Lewis Chess­ games appeared live online, but the focus of Central Library was the venue for the sec­ men, which all proved popular with visitors the activities was a simultaneous display ond year running to celebrate International huddled around to see that chess can have a given by one of Hull's strongest players, (World) Chess Day. Last year was a marked humorous element as well as a serious one. namely Professor Graham Chesters. success, but this year proved to be even Moving through the building, it was evi­ Graham began around 10.30a.m., and better, with a visit from Alan Johnson, MP dent that the library had restocked on their was willing to stay all day, issuing a rolling for Hull West, and Mitch Upfold, Develop­ collection of chess books, ranging from simul where the general public could take a ment Manager for Hull City Council. Ch ess Op enings for Dummies to the more board as players lost and fell. Some Hull & The day kicked off with a montage of advanced collection of Kasparov material on District players initially started the display photographs in the foyer from the previous show. The open day was primarily aimed at with the twenty two boards being filled, but year, and also some archive pictures of old getting and making the general public more by the end of the day, as the public took up Hull Masters such as , Samuel aware of chess and what it can offer chil­ vacated slots and places, Graham probably Boden, Edward Freeborough through to dren, so we also had on show material from played somewhere in the region of 45 Jacob Bronowski and your editor, Richard Ch ess in Schools & Communities, along with boards, losing only one and drawing four. An Palliser. a section of the library dedicated to coach­ impressive feat. Just inside the foyer we placed a 'chess ing juniors and newcomers to the beautiful The day was a fantastic success for helpdesk', incorporating handouts, flyers, game. chess, and the community at large. The digni­ magazines, congress programmes and more Several large and pieces taries seemed interested and surprised at just to entice people as they entered. The foyer were strewn across the library floor for how much interest there is in chess, and it also had a large plasma TV, which we imme­ anyone and everyone to play on, along with was explained what the benefits of getting . diately took advantage of by playing Ch ess normal sized sets, plus a digital chessboard the younger element playing really are. Fe ver, Geri's Game from Pixar, and a British and projector, linked to the web so the Many thanks must go to all the people involved, from the Hull & District Chess Association for the planning and running of the event, to Malcolm Pein for the free copies of CHESS which were issued to the general public. Also thanks to Hull Central Li­ brary for allowing the use of their premises, and for the time given on the day by the Par­ liamentarians. They kindly showed an interest in chess, and saw first hand what chess can do if we only had the funding ... Everyone got a badge, everyone got involved, and we hope to build on this next year. Please come along and pay L-R, Alan Johnson MP, chess coach Mike Butt, Hull & District Ch ess President Ste ve King, and Mitch Up fo ld, Hull CounoZ us a visit!

50 September 201 3 Studies

by Brian Stephenson

It is more than past time that I mentioned 1 cxbSSI..! 6 ...Sl.. xh8 7 f6 ! Richard Guy, an important British figure in Why a bishop and not a queen? Here's endgame studies. He was born in 1916 and why: 1 cxb81/i'? tjjc7 2 'il'xc7 <;t>c4+ 3 is currently Professor Emeritus of Pure 'il'xeS h1 'ii'+ 4 Sl..xh1 c1 'ii'+ S tjjxc1 is Mathematics at the University of Calgary, stalemate because a queen covers bS and Canada. He has had a long and distinguished cS, which a bishop wouldn't. professional career and he was active in 1 ...tjj xb8 chess for a relatively short period of just Black can try moving his bishop away twelve years. In that time though he com­ from attack, but that's not a good idea as posed some 1 94 endgame studies. He ed­ 1 ...Sl.. h8? 2 f6! blocks the bishop out of play, ited the 'Endings' section of British Chess while 1 ... Sl..d4? gives White the opportunity Magazine from January 1948 (taking over to cover all his bases with 2 il.f4!. from Thomas R. Dawson) to June 19S 1 1 ...tjj c7 leads to 2 Sl..xc7 when we know (handing over to Hugh F. Blandford). As well that there is no stalemate, so Black only has as his composing and editing work, he de­ a move such as 2 ... Sl..d4 when 3 Sl..f4 ! again veloped a numerical code for describing the covers everything. material present in a chess position. This has 2 axb8SI..! been enhanced over the years by Hugh Promoting to a queen leads to the same With the black bishop now penned in the Blandford and John Raycroft, eventually stalemate combination as at move 1. corner, White wins at his leisure. becoming the Guy-Blandford-Raycroft 2 ... Sl..xb8 White's first move, though an under­ (GBR) code and has proved useful in com­ Now Black threatens .SI.es, and, as to bishop, is more a jemmy than puter databases of endgame studies and White can't defend (for the moment) by a key and each reader has to decide chess problems. promoting again on b8, what can he do? whether it is justified by the three further Our first example of Richard's work is 3 {jjf6?, planning to move the knight under-promotions to bishop that follow. this task-like study, first published in this again to guard eS, fails to 3 ... Sl..eS when Personally, I would far rather the study ex­ very magazine in January 1 944 as part of Black can't be stopped from mating: for isted than it didn't and if the price is a cap­ 'Our End-Game Studies Tournament'. To instance, 4 tjjd7 il..d4! or 4 b8SI..? Sl..xf6 !. ture key, then so be it. avoid letting the judge know the identities Bringing the bishop into play with 3 Another study by Richard, in a very dif­ of the composers, all the studies were pub­ Sl..e4? is not enough to stop Black's attack. ferent style, is our study for solving. Please lished under a motto, rather than the com­ Indeed, the second player has 3. SI.es 4 do have a go at it! posers' names. Richard's entries were pub­ b8SI..xb8 il.. s Sl..xc2 SI.es 6 <;t>b1 h1'ii'+ 7 lished under the motto 'Peter Kayfor'. tjjc1 Wd2 and a quick mate cannot be Richard Guy stopped. British Ch ess Magazine, 1 946 Richard Guy CHESS, 1944

3 h6! White to play and win Moving another pawn nearer to promo­ White to play and win tion is the only way. To enter email [email protected] or 3 ....tes 4 bSSI.. ! send your name and address, with the main Black's bishop and king threat­ That stalemate hasn't gone away. variations, to Chess & Bridge Ltd, 44 Baker ens mate. White's only chance is to use his 4 ....txb8 s h7 .Ill.es 6 ha.Ill.! Street, London, W1 U 7RT, postmarked no c-pawn to capture and promote on b8 (so 6 h8'ii'? h1'il'+ 7 Sl..xh1 <;t>c4+ 8 'ii'xeS later than 1st November. There is a £2S guarding eS), which is a strong opener to a c1 'ii'+ 9 tjjxc1 is again the familiar stale­ voucher for the first correct entry drawn. study. mate.

www . chess. co . uk 51 Overseas News

ANDORRA - The Andorra Open (20-28 tional (23 June - 1 July), July) attracted a number of British players, losing early on to both including local resident who Lazaro Bruzon and Viktor had his best result for a number of years, Mikhalevski before rallying to landing up tieing for second, while Laurence take second with 6/9. How­ Trent picked up the best game prize. ever, matters were much different on his return for H.Steingrimsson-L.Trent the 50th Canadian Open Championship in Ottawa Andorra Open 201 3 (1 3-20 July). There Short Albin Co unter- Gambit bounced back to his best, landing up tieing for first 1 d4 dS 2 c4 es 3 dxes d4 4 tt'lf3 tt'lc6 s with the young Canadian a3 i..94 6 �b3 �d7 7 '*Vxb7 .l:!.bS 8 '*Va6 talent Eric Hansen, and tak­ tt'l9e7 9 tt'lbd2 tt'l96 10 93 d3 11 e3 i..b4 ing the title on tiebreak. 12 i..92 i..xd2+ 13 tt'lxd2tt'l9xeS 14 0-0 Leading Scores. i..h3 1 S i..xh3 '*Vxh3 16 f4 0-0 17 cS Nigel Short (ENG), Eric Han­ tt'l94 18 tt'lf3 d2 19 i..xd2 l"!.xb2 '*Ve220 sen (CAN) 7Y2/9, 3-7 Ivan l:!.eS 21 e4 h6 22 .l:!.fb1 Sokolov (NED), Lazaro Bru­ zon (CUB), Aman Hambleton, Edward Porper, Arthur Lawrence Trent - best game in Andorra. Calugar (all CAN) 7. now weakened his back rank:

DENMARK - The ever-popular Politiken 26 •.•l:!dd7? Cup attracted 309 players to its famous 26 ...fS ! was indicated and after 27 location, Helsingor. raced lhg7 �xg7 28 exf5 d5 29 f6 �h6 30 f7 away to 6/6, but was then defeated by Black defends with 30... .l:!.fB 31 J::f.g 1 'i:!Ve6. Sabino Brunello who in turn suffered a pain­ 27 h61 J:t96 28 hS 'i¥xh6 ful last round defeat at the hands of his sole co-leader, . Leading Scores. 1 Parimarjan Negi (IND) 9/1 0, 2-8 Ivan Cheparinov (BUL), Romain Edouard, Sebastian Maze (both FRA), Sune ...... Berg Hansen (DEN), Jan Timman (NED), Sabino Brunello (ITA),

22 .•. l:.xe4 23 '&f1 'i¥xf1+ 24 I:txf1 li:te2 (NED) 8. 2S h3 tt'lh2 26 tt'lxh2 J:l.exd2 27 tt'lf3 l:.92+ 28 Wh1 .l:!.x93 29 J:.ad1 l:!.xh3+ 30 �91 l"!.93+ 31 Wh1 .l:ib3 32 tt'l91 J:t9d3 P .Negi-S.Brunello 33 fS .litxa3 34 f6 9xf6 3S J::f.xd3 J::f.xd3 Helsingor 201 3 36 J:.xf6 CZJes 37 .l:!.xh6 c6 38 l:lh4 l:d 1 39 l:f.f4 J::f.c1 40 @92 .1:1.xcS 41 ctJe2 aS 42 CZJ93 �fa43 @f1 lic344 r;i.>92ft'.c2+ 4S �f1 cS 46 Ila4 llJc6 4 7 liJfS l:th2 48 tt'ld6 We7 49 ctJb7 J:!.c2 SO llJxaS llJxaS 29 Vi'xf6+! S1 .l:ixaS We6 S2 We1 fS S3 @d1 J::!.c4 Graphically highlighting the weakness of S4 J:.aS £te4 SS Wd2 c4 S6 l:!.aS Wf6 S7 the g8-square. l:.a1 r;i.>9S SS .l:.91 + �f4 S9 l:.f1+ W94 29 ...'&97 30 'ii'fS l:.dS?? 60 J:l.91+ Wh3 61 .l:tf1 f4 62 l:th1+ @9 2 A most unfortunate blunder. Black is still 63 J:l.h4 �93 0-1 very much in the game after 30 ..'!W h6. 31 hx96 1-0 Leading Scores: 1 Andrey Vovk (UKR) 7Y2/9, 2-8 (ISR), Renier HOLLAND - Every July Leiden hosts a Vazquez lgarza (ESP), Eduardo lturrizaga strong open which this year (1 2-19 July) (VEN), David Norwood (AND), Marc Narciso attracted all of David Howell, Sabrina Dublan (ESP), Yannick Gozzoli (FRA), Vladi­ Chevannes and Yang-Fan Zhou. Howell ap­ mir Hamitevici (MDA) 7. peared a little rusty, but while he must have Brunello has been holding his own in his been disappointed to only tie for fourth on

CANADA - Nigel Short didn't enjoy the favourite Schliemann Defence (see his At­ 6/9 having won the tournament the year happiest of times in the Edmonton lnterna- tacking the Sp anish for some coverage), but before, it was clearly a warm-up event

52 September 201 3 worth playing considering how he domi­ nated the British just a week later. Zhou Biel 201 3 finished half a point back, but it was Chevannes who stole the show. The leading Rat. 11 22 33 44 55 66 Perf. London chess coach arguably had the tour­ 1 Bacrot 2755 11 31 11 11 31 2755 14 ** nament of her life, having much the better 2 V-Lagrave 2755 11 03 10 33 11 2755 14 of a draw with the Dutch GM Eric van den 3 Ding Liren 2755 01 30 13 11 13 2755 14 ** Doel en route to making a WIM norm. 4 Moiseenko 2755 11 13 10 10 33 2755 14 5 Nepomniatchi 2755 11 00 11 13 11 2755 10 6 Rapport 2755 01 11 10 00 11 ** 2755 6 RUSSIA - Sad news from Chelyabinsk as we learn that the amiable 28 year-old Grand­ master Igor Kurnosov has been killed while points under the traditional scoring system. crossing a road. In July Kurnosov won the Abu Bacrot lost his resulting blitz play-off with Dhabi Masters which left him ranked 84th in , as did Ding Liren the world. British readers may recall his ap­ against Maxime Vachier Lagrave, after which pearance for Guildford in the final weekend the slightly higher rated of the two French­ of the 2008/09 4NCL season which came men downed Moiseenko to take the title. shortly after his Hastings victory. USA - The World Open moved from Phila­ delphia to Arlington, a suburb of Washington l.Kurnosov-M.Dzhumaev D.C. for its 201 3 edition (29 June - 7 July), Agzamov Memorial, and proved as popular as ever. All the nine sections feature fairly big entry fees and big Tashkent 2008 prizes. Indeed, it's hard to even contemplate Pirc Defence an U-1 800 tournament on these shores with a $1 3,000 first prize! In the end no 1 e4 d6 2 d4 li:Jf6 3 lllc3 g6 4 ilgS fewer than ten Grandmasters tied for first lllbd7 s 'i¥d2 a6 6 o-o-o b5 7 es b4 s 1 3 :l.xe6+I fxe6 1 4 dxe6 ! in the top section, as we hope one of them .t exf6 bxc3 9 �xc3 e6? 1 4 ... xc6 1 5 f7 is a lovely mate. will explain in a little more detail next month. The Uzbek Grandmaster is far too ambi­ 14... ilg7 15 exd7+ 1-0 Leading Scores. 1 -1 0 Varuzhan Akobian tious. He had to go 9 ...li:J xf6, and if 10 .txf6 (USA), Yuniesky Quesada, Lazaro Bruzon .th6+! 11 �b1 exf6 1 2 .l:!.e1 + �f8. SWITZERLAND - The (20 (both CUB), Viktor Laznicka (CZE), Sergey 10 �e1 lllb6 July - 2 August) renamed its top section in Erenburg (USA), (GEO), Still striving for ... dS, since 1 O ...dS? was honour of its former organiser Olivier Breisa­ Parimarjan Negi (IND), Alejandro Ramirez, impossible on account of 11 Vi'c6 .l:!.b8 1 2 cher who unfortunately died while on holiday Yuri Shulman, Conrad Holt (all USA) 6Y,/9. �xe6+!. soon after last year's edition. The six player The Chess Journalists of America have 11 dS! all-play-all saw a four-way tie for first on announced that From Amateur to IM by Kurnosov continues to exploit the 14/20 (three points being awarded for a Jonathan Hawkins has won their 201 3 best weakened c6-square to the maximum. win), although Etienne Bacrot could consider book prize. Our congratulations to Jonathan 11... lll a4? 12 Vi'c6+ild7 himself unlucky since he scored the most and publisher Mongoose Press.

Left: Russian Grandmaster Igor Kumoso v (3 0 May 1985 - 8 August 20 13); Right: Jonathan Ha wkins, author of 'From Amateur to /M ' www.chess.co.uk 53 Solutions

Swindles: Ten Dirty Moves (p.34) two pieces for the rook and a better endgame. loss down the long diagonal. Never underesti­ mate the potential power of a fianchettoed 1) 1 Bf2-bS!, switching diagonals, is ex­ 13) Khanin-Geller bishop I tremely powerful. The a-pawn decides after 1 ... .1i..c4+! (better 2) 2 0-0!, castling with a capture. than the game's 1 ... dS 2 exdS il.xdS when 22) Naiditsch-Khenkin 3) 1 ... Rd6!, jumping over d3, and countering White could have fought on with 3 'lWb1 ) 2 1 J:!.xf7!! Wxf7 (L 'ii\l'xd4 2 J:!.xf8#, 1 . . il.d7 2 cS=Q with 2 ... Rc6+, saves the day. We3 (if 2 'it>xc4 'l!l'b3#)2 ... il.xf1 3 'l/Vxf1 a3. 2 'il:Vxb6 and 1...tL'ld 7 2 'fil'f4 all fail to improve 4) There are several options here. Bring to the matters) 2 �f4+ @es 3 'ii\l'xfB+ @d7 4 rescue a bishop on f1 , a knight on e1, or better 14) Vachier Lagrave-Moiseenko il.bS+! 1-0 The sting in the tail. It's check­ still, a rook on h2. 1 .1<.cS! 1-0 Black is undone on his first rank: mate after 4 ...'ilixbS (or 4 ... 'it>c7 5 'ii\l'e7+) 5 S) Not at all; just j'adoube the move back and 1 ...b. es 2 J:!.xdS+ Wf7 3 l::hhS or 1 ....!:teS 2 'ilid6+ @es 6 'ilie7#. replace it with 4 ...d6. �xe7! J:!.xe7 3J:!.dS+and 4 l:!.xhS. 23) Williams-Weaving Find the Winning Moves (p.3S) 1 S) Ramirez-Shankland 1 lllf6+! ! Wh8? (1 ...gxf6 had to be tried, 1 il.xb7+! @bs (1 ... @xb7 2 'l/;Vb4+ @cs 3 although after 2 'i!Ug4+ @hS 3 J:!.g3 '&xg3 4 1) Collier-Emery 1;lfe1 wins the rook on e7) 2 'ii\l'b3 'lWcS 3 fxg3 White should win) 2 l:!.h3! h6 (2 ...gxf6 3 1 J;l.eB+! .HS (if 1 .. J;lxeS 2 W'xd6) 2 J:!.xd8 J:!.ad1 left White a pawn ahead and, more 'ijfe4 fS 4 'iih4 forces mate) 3 'ijfe3 1-0 'l!Vxd2 3 J:txd2 1-0 importantly, with a deadly attack. There's no defence to mate down the h-file with 4 J::!.xh6+! the killer threat. 2) Martin-Longson 16) Hoare-Warman 1 ... J;txe2! netted a piece since 2 .1i..xe2? 1 J::!.xe6+! (even stronger than 1 Vi¥xg7'lWc8 2 24) Yang-Getz would fail to 2 C2lf4+ and3 ..CLixh S. CDe41) 1 ... @fB (Lfxe6 2 'iixg7+ 'it>dS 3 1 t:Lixh6+!! gxh6 2 il.xh6 fS (the only real 'l!VxhS+ We7 4 'lWxbS wins the house) 2 l:txd6 defence against the threat of 3 '/Wg4) 3 exf6 3) Hebden-Purdon won a piece and soon the game. il.xf6 (3 ..lll xf6 was perhaps a better try, White spotted a rather large loose black piece: although after 4 lllxe6 '!Wb6 - 4 ... t:Lixe6 5 1�a6+! 1-0 17) Zhou-Burnett 'il'xe6+ WhS 6 il.e4 'il'c7 7 J::tac1 is a killer - 5 1 llld3+! exd3 2 f4# 1-0 lllxf8 il.xf8 6 .1i..c4+ Wh8 7 �e3 White should 4) Murphy-Balaji win with the black king so devoid of pawn _1 J:!.hS! 1-0 It's mate on h8 or with 1 ... CLixhS 18) Palliser-Nelson cover) 4 t:Lixe6 t:Lixe6 5 'ilixe6+ (White has 2 'i!Uh7#. 1 t:LixbS! ( 1 �b3 t:Lia6 2 e4 f4 3 tL'lfS .11..xfS 4 three pawns for the piece and his virulent exfS tLlcS wasn't at all clear in the game) initiative proves swiftly decisive) S .. JU7 6 S) Surtees-Arkell 1 ...cxbS 2 il.dS CLixdS (the best try since il.h7+! Wxh7 7 W'xf7+ @xh6 8 '!Wxb7 1-0 1 ... J;!,xg3+! 2 Wxg3 (or 2 'it>f2 'i1Vf3#) 2 ... .1i..b7 fails to 3 lllxfS 'l!Vd7 4 2 ....1<.bB+ 0-1 The check on h2 will win the il.xb 7, and if 4 ...'lWxb 7? 5 tL'ld6+) white queen. 3 il.xe7 t:Lixe7 4 e4 leaves White clearly better, in view of 6) Jones-Reid his superior development, safer 1 J:!.xcS+! bxcS 2 'i'b2 1-0 Black can't save king and soon to be active queen. his rook in view of the threat of 3 'ii\l'bS#. 19) Jones-Mason 7) Brown-Horton 1 il.xg711 'it>xg7 2 .i:!.g4+ Wh8 1 ... 'W'xd7! 2 :!:!.h1 (2 J:!.xd7 J:!.e1+ mates) 3 'i£'h6 1-0 3 ... 'ii'b6+ (or 2 ...'i!Ue7 3 a3 'i'e4+0-1 3 ... .i:!.gS) 4 @h1 'ii'xb2 covers g7, but runs into 5 'ii'xh7+! 8) Rahman-Shankland

54 September 201 3 New Books and Software

The Latest Reviews and Newest Arrivals at Chess & Bridge

Mastering Endgame Strategy ond area. As for the first aspect, working j)_h4 j)_d4 4 j)_g3 j)_c3 5 j)_es i.xe5 6 Johan Hellsten through the exercises will definitely improve 'it>xe5 'it>e7, etc. 544 pages, your abilities in that field." 1 ... 'it>d7 2 .i.e7.i.c3 3 .i.xf6 .i.e1 4 .il..g5 RRP £23.99 SUBSCRIBERS £21.59 The writings of Smyslov, Shereshevsky .il..c3 5 'it>g6! and Baburin are explicitly named as key in­ It must be the month for big books. Al­ fluences on the current work as the author though this one is not quite as large as the presents his material over the course of Albin tome reviewed below, it is definitely eight well organised chapters. The first five one of the biggest in the Everyman cata­ cover all of the pieces, from king to queen, logue. This is the third part of a trilogy by and then we encounter 'Miscellaneous Hellsten that includes Mastering Ch ess Themes', 'Exchanges' and 'Classical Themes', Strategy and Mastering Opening Strategy, followed by one hundred pages of exercises and it stems from the author's work as a and their solutions. chess teacher: "Sometimes in my classes, I The journey through the key strategic have felt the need of a book that covered ideas starts simply enough with an example major and minor strategic ideas in the last of king and pawn vs. king, demonstrating phase of the game. Finally, it turned out that the notion of "King first!"; i.e. making sure I would write such a book myself, and I am the king moves forward before the pawn so now pleased to share it with the reader." as not to sloppily allow the opponent to gain The idea of the book is "to complement the . The material quickly be­ the traditional endgame manuals. From my comes more advanced (by the third exam­ Preparing a 'bridge' by .il..h6-g7; a plan experience, success in the endgame is de­ ple we are on to king and three pawns vs. that Black can't parry in any way. termined mainly by three factors: king and bishop) 5 ...'it>ea 6 .il..h6 .il..d4 7 .il..g7 .il..c5 a f6 1) Calculation skills; I found my interest was piqued as early i.b4 9 f7+ 'it>d7 10 'it>h7 2) Knowledge of basic positions and as the third illustrative position, in which the A new bridge should be constructed on their respective continuations; white king and his trusty bishop sidekick had f8 in order to gain the a3-f8 diagonal.

3) Knowledge of major and minor stra­ to exercise more than a little dexterity to 1 o . ..'it>e6 11 'it>ga 'it>f5 12 .il..fa .il..d2 13 tegic ideas. ensure the win was achieved. .il..c5 .il..h6 14 i.e3! Evidently, this book is aimed at helping White wins. you with the last asp·ect, although on occa­ sion it could also raise your level in the sec- It's the sense of intrigue, the magnetic pull of the unusual problem to be overcome,

)OHAN HELLSTEN that repeatedly drew me further into the book. Here's another position I found very interesting.

Averbakh White to play

The following analysis is quoted from the book: 1 'it>f7 ! Before taking the pawn White should prevent ...@ es. In contrast, the obvious 1 Ebralidze-Bondarevsky

.Jte7+? 'it>e8 2 i.xf6 fails after 2 ... i.e3 3 USSR Championship, 1937 www.chess.co.uk 55 How many readers will already know workbook. At various stages through the After the standard moves 1 d4 dS 2 c4 how to win this position? White clearly has a game, the reader is prompted to find the es 3 dxeS d4 4 tllf3 lllc6, the first three substantial material advantage, but how can next move, and in some cases, to answer parts of the book examine the most com­ it be converted (it's White to play)? The specific questions aimed at focusing the mon lines, namely S a3, S g3, and S lllbd2. game itself ended in a draw, but the author direction of thought. These can be quite The final part rounds up the earlier options, reveals the winning method. I'll leave that challenging - even the very first question including White's methods of declining the one with you, readers, and it will I hope requires some thought. However, themes gambit; one can imagine a surprised oppo­ whet your appetite for more examples from are repeated and key moves are easier to nent not wanting to enter one's back yard this impressive tome. The material gets spot as one progresses through the book. with 3 dxeS, so it's an important section. much tougher in places, but the explana­ One issue I have is that the answers to There's a huge amount of material in tions are uniformly excellent these problems are sometimes revealed in this book and even experienced Albin prac­ I fail to see how a careful study of this the text immediately preceding the game, titioners will find plenty of interesting ideas. book won't lead to a greater understanding making the tests considerably less useful. I Yet the question remains: is such a hefty of endgame strategy. The illustrative snippets found it beneficial to postpone reading the tome necessary on a fringe opening? I have clearly been very well chosen and none preamble until after the game in order to would prefer a much slimmer and more of them outstay their welcome or become make best use of the exercises. I'm also not accessible book, paring the material down to overburdened with superfluous amounts of wholly convinced that Tal's ingenious at­ cover the essentials and thus enabling the analysis. The author focuses instead on ex­ tacking technique can be so easily distilled reader to get the surprise weapon ready for actly what is important and he has produced into the formulaic theories offered by action as quickly as possible. an important work on an oft-neglected sub­ Koblencs, and some of these descriptions Production-wise, all is well. Despite the ject which can be recommended to studious feel somewhat contrived. deluge of analytical material the diagrams and players and trainers alike. That said, this is still a really good book. I general page layout are clear, with a well­ Sean Marsh have no doubt that anyone working seri­ sized font (which partly explains the extrava­ ously through the problems in the book will gant page count), and the spine has sufficient Study Chess with Tai gain in terms of attacking intuition and cal­ glue to prevent it bending and cracking Mikhail Tai & Alexander Koblencs culation. And at the very least, the reader through normal use. There are comprehen­ 272 pages, Batsford will be treated to a number of beautiful sive indexes for variations, games and players RRP £1 5.99 SUBSCRIBERS £14.39 annotated games which fans of attacking plus an extended bibliography. chess will surely enjoy. There is, however, a controversial ele­ This is a new algebraic edition of a now Kanwa! Bhatia ment. It was noted on the ChessPublish­ out-of-print version originally published in ing.com forum that parts of the book had 1981 . The authors of the book are given as The Complete Albin Counter-Gambit been copied - virtually word for word - Mikhail Tai and Alexander Koblencs. FM Luc Henris directly from a number of theoretical arti­ Koblencs worked as Tal's trainer for many 61 6 pages, Jean-Louis Marchand Editions cles on their site and, furthermore, the au­ years and coached him during his World RRP £28.99 SUBSCRIBERS £26.09 thor has according to Edward Winter's web­ . Championship matches against Botvinnik. site "form". The publisher has since apolo­ He would therefore be in a seemingly per­ It's hard to argue with the blurb on the gised for the error of Judgement, but of fect position to provide insight into his back of this hefty tome: "This book contains course such a discovery taints the integrity charge's games. It is unclear, however, just a comprehensive presentation of the pre­ of the author. how much input Tai himself had into the sent-day theory of the Albin Counter­ My advice for would-be Albin players is book, apparently restricted to the Foreword Gambit." At 61 6 pages, one would expect to give Andrew Martin's Foxy Openings and some rather general quotes often pub­ nothing less. However, it goes on to say: DVD a try first. It's very good and provides lished elsewhere. "The opening is experiencing a remarkable enough coverage to help play 1 d4 dS 2 c4 As well as being a collection of 40 en­ renaissance lately, notably through the ef­ es as an occasional surprise weapon with tertaining attacking games, this is also a forts of elite Grandmaster Alexander Moro­ comparative confidence. Only if one were to zevich." This is a shade overblown, but I do adopt the Albin as the major part of a reper­ believe the Albin is a reasonable choice for a toire would this new book be even remotely surprise weapon in a club player's repertoire. appropriate. Otherwise, it represents a lot Indeed, 1 d4 dS 2 c4 eS should at least give of work of for the reader to master a very the first player some anxious moments, occasional weapon. unless he has JUSt happened to have pre­ Sean Marsh pared something for one of Black's rarest of openings. A Practical White Repertoire with 1 .d4 There once was a time when Albin ad­ and 2.c4; The Complete Queen's herents put all their eggs in one basket with Gambit, Volume 1 the queen's bishop coming out as soon as Alexei Kornev, 304 pages, paperback possible, followed by ..."Yi' d7, ... 0-0-0 and an RRP £1 9.99 SUBSCRIBERS £1 7.99 all-out attack on White's king. History re­ The Russian Grandmaster begins a tril­ cords this approach as crude and not par­ ogy on 1 d4 followed by 2 c4 for White as ticularly successful. Morozevich developed he examines 1 ... dS, presenting a repertoire the plan of delaying committing the king and against the likes of the QGA, QGD and Slav. playing an early ...lll ge7, with ...lll g6 to fol­ low to pressure the eS-pawn. Sometimes 's Best Games the knight goes to fS instead, partly to sup­ Alexander Alekhine, 304 pages, paper­ port Black's cramping d4-pawn. There are back also some unusual lines in which Black plays RRP £1 7.99 SPECIAL PRICE £1 5.99 a very early .. .f6, turning the opening into a Batsford have recently made a return to true gambit. the chess publishing market, re-releasing a

56 September 201 3 number of classic works, including the one First Steps in Endgames RRP £21.95 SUBSCRIBERS £1 9.76 by Tai and Koblencs reviewed above. This Andrew Martin; PC-DVD, running time: Sokolov's Win ning Ch ess M1ddlegames selection of Alekhine's games is also in alge­ 3 hours, 1 2 minutes was very well received. Here he turns his braic notation and features a foreword by RRP £22.99 SUBSCRIBERS £20.69 attention to helping the reader master the Garry Kasparov. One rarely has time to enjoy an end­ initiative while learning when and how to game these days due to the proliferation of sacrifice for the attack. Best Play: A New Method to rapid games and quickplay finishes. The Find the Strongest Move experienced Martin is acutely aware of that Techniques of Positional Play Alexander Shashin, 400 pages, paper­ and provides plenty of advice on the final Valeri Bronznik & Anatoli Terekhin, 254 back stage of the game especially for those up to pages, paperback RRP £19.99 SUBSCRIBERS £1 7 .99 1600 (1 25 ECF) level. RRP £21 .95 SUBSCRIBERS £1 9.76 An experienced St Petersburg-based This updated edition of a Russian mid­ trainer tackles an extremely important if Fritz for Fun 1 3 dlegame primer helps the reader to master tricky dilemma: how can one always find the RRP £24.95 SUBSCRIBERS £22.45 45 important middlegame principles, such best move? Drawing on the games of Ca­ This 'fun' PC-DVD version of the legen­ as how to prevent the opponent from pablanca, Petrosian and Tai, Shashin pro­ dary engine enables the user to analyse their opening a file and where to place their vides plenty of pointers and isn't afraid to games with it or to play a game against a rooks. use some mathematical ratios. number of personas who vary wildly in strength to suit. Access to the Playchess The Batsford Book of Chess for Chil­ Botvinnik: Move by Move server and a number of instructional videos dren Cyrus Lakdawala, 400 pages, paperback are also included. Sabrina Chevannes, 128 pages, hard­ RRP £19.99 SUBSCRIBERS £1 7 .99 back The prolific American IM follows up his Garry Kasparov on Garry Kasparov, RRP £1 2.99 SUBSCRIBERS £1 1 .70 works on Capablanca and Kramnik by plac­ Part II: 1985-1993 This fun children's book sees two char­ ing another of his favourite players under Garry Kasparov, 494 pages, paperback acters, Jess and Jamie, explain everything the microscope. The reader should learn RRP £30.00 SUBSCRIBERS £27.00 from how the pieces move to checkmate, plenty about topics like defence and The second volume of Kasparov's biog­ while introducing the reader to the various exploiting imbalances as they work their raphy and best game collection sees him stages of the game and some basic tactics. way through Botvinnik's games with Laka­ covering the period 1985-1 993; a pivotal dawala's commentary. time not just for the , The English Hedgehog Defence but for the chess world in general with the Lubomir Ftacnik; PC-DVD, running time: Chess: The Complete Self-Tutor GMA World Cup cycles and then Kasparov 3 hours, 50 minutes , 365 pages, paperback and Short's split from FIDE. RRP £24.95 SUBSCRIBERS £22.46 RRP £1 7.99 SPECIAL PRICE £1 5.99 The Slovak Grandmaster and theoreti­ Batsford first released an algebraic edi­ How Magnus Carlsen Became cian has employed the Hedgehog Defence tion of this famous chess manual in 1997. the Youngest Chess Grandmaster throughout his career. The famous set-up Those who have never seen it should still Simen Agdestein, 192 pages, paperback with pawns on a6, b6, d6 and e6 after an find the classic examples and exercises as RRP £1 8.99 SUBSCRIBERS £17.09 exchange on d4 certainly gives the second entertaining as ever. Expect a slew of works on Carlsen in the player plenty of potential counterplay once run-up to the World Championship match. they break with ... b5 or ... d5.

ChessBase Magazine 155 - Here have re-released Won ­ August 201 3 derboy under a new title With just the cover The King's Gambit RRP £1 6.99 SUBSCRIBERS £1 5.29 and foreword different to the 2004 book. John Shaw, 680 pages, paperback The latest volume of this DVD for the RRP £21 .99 SUBSCRIBERS £1 9. 79 PC-based magazine presents reports on the Kotronias on the King's Indian, This labour of love has taken the Scot­ Tai Memorial and Thessaloniki, amongst Volume One: Systems tish Grandmaster many years to complete. other events, as well as 1 2 opening surveys Vassilios Kotronias, 720 pages, paper­ Shaw provides a complete overview of the­ and a special video analysis of the Queen's back ory in the famous gambit and shows that is Gambit by Mihail Marin. RRP £25.99 SPECIAL PRICE £22.99 still quite playable in the 21st . See The Greek Grandmaster has long been the extract in the August CHESS 117 one of the world's leading authorities on the 280 pages, paperback King's Indian. In this first volume of a black The Reti, a Flexible Attacking Opening RRP £25.95 SUBSCRIBERS £23.36 repertoire Kotronias supplies all and more Alejandro Ramirez; PC-DVD, running All the latest theoretical developments that Black needs to know to tackle the time: 4 hours with plenty of languageless GM annotations, popular Fianchetto Variation. RRP £23.99 SUBSCRIBERS £21.59 although the legendary series nowadays con­ The personable American Grandmaster tains a number of features in English, includ­ Playing the Trompowsky presents a repertoire for White with his ing columns by Kasparov and Marin. Richard Pert, 264 pages, paperback favourite 1 tt:'lf3, including lines against all RRP £21 .99 SPECIAL PRICE £1 8.99 Black's most common responses, including Fighting For The Initiative! The English IM has long been a leading King's Indian and Slav-like set-ups Tiger Hillarp Persson; PC-DVD, running proponent of 's old weapon. time: 6 hours Here he presents an aggressive repertoire Think Like a Grandmaster RRP £22.95 SUBSCRIBERS £20.66 with it, while also covering both the , 192 pages, paperback The Swedish Grandmaster is well­ Pseudo-Trompowsky (1 d4 d5 2 �gS), and RRP £1 7.99 SPECIAL PRICE £1 5.99 known for his creative style and line of the 2 �gs against the Dutch. Another Batsford re-release sees an al­ Modern Defence, and here presents plenty gebraic edition of a classic made available of instruction as he goes through 9 of his Sacrifice and Initiative in Chess for a new audience to learn all about the favourite games. Ivan Sokolov, 256 pages, paperback legendary 'tree of analysis'. www.chess.co.uk 57 Saunders on Chess

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Here's a position from the recent British catch up, only being paired with David after booked up and adept at using a computer, Championship for you to mull over. You're the latter had already pinched his title with one but he has become disenchanted with the looking for something out of the ordinary, round to spare. amount of book-work necessary to keep up of course. Don't beat yourself up if you can't David's performance was all the more to date: "It is a bit depressing when I lose to find it or see why it wins - to be fair, it's not commendable for coming so soon after the Peter Wells through not being able to re­ an absolutely clear-cut finish in the main line terrible blow of his father's death. Those at­ member which square my bishop should - but add 50 points to whatever score you tending the prize-giving were moved when he move to on move 22." Another is chess poli­ made in this month's Ho w Good Is Yo ur dedicated his victory to his father - a lovely tics: "I am also dismayed by many of the re­ Chess? article elsewhere in the mag if you man to whom I often chatted at tournaments cent decisions taken by FIDE and the ECF." do. I'll come back to it at the end. and who will be greatly missed. Mental tough­ Mike also cited cheating scandals as a factor. ness is a characteristic of all great champions The factors Mike cites also concern me. I J.Rudd-M.Yeo and it must taken a lot of this valuable quality sometimes wonder if, in trying to make chess for David even to play in Torquay, let alone win more attractive and 'modern', we aren't ac­ British Championship, the tournament. He met a very strong field of tually making it a lot less attractive for its Torquay 201 3 seasoned GMs and had to slug it out toe to most loyal constituents. toe with a couple of them. The position at the top of the article is My 40+ star of the month has to be 41 - rather bittersweet as it comes from Mike's year-old Mickey Adams after his tournament very last competition game. Let's see what of a lifetime in Dortmund, finishing just ahead should have happened. of an in-form Vladimir Kramnik with a re­ The spectacular win is 15... 'il'd3 !! 16 markably bloodthirsty score of 7 /9. Mickey j]_xd3 (1 6 'il'xaS 'il'xe2+ 17 @xe2 .lhg4+ reached the top four in the world rating list in 18 @f1 j]_g3+ 19 @g1 j]_e2 wins) the early 2000s, but had gradually slipped 16... exd3 when White can do nothing about further down as the Carlsen generation the threat of ...i.. xg4+, other than to give up started occupying higher places. He is not his queen for the light-squared bishop. usually quite so carnivorous (except when feasting on his native British fauna), but he remain.s a formidable and consistent performer as he demonstrated so ably in Germany. My 60+ star of the month is the well­ known British amateur player, 62-year-old Mike Yeo. My reasons for this are purely per­ Black to Play sonal. For one thing, Mike is one of my oldest chess buddies. We were university and club I've been having a think about the 'three colleagues for around 30 years. Mike has been ages of chessplayers'. I'm not conforming to a dedicated competition chess player for fifty the categories set down in the riddle of the years, often travelling to obscure parts of the Sphinx (infancy, adulthood, old age), so world in order to sample the delights of strong much as the 20+, 40+ and 60+ age groups. competition, and also a regular at British My 20+ player of the month is 22-year­ events. He plays a dangerous, enterprising old GM David Howell, who won this year's brand of chess which has brought him many British Championship, the 1 OOth, in splendid fine scalps without ever being reflected in a Thus 1 7 b3 i..xg4+ 1 8 'il'xg4 hxg4 when style. It was his second national title and both rating much beyond the mid-2200s. Black is only a pawn up, but now there is little were won in Torquay, tempting us chess scrib­ The real reason I'm nominating Mike in White can do about a rook invasion, followed blers to adorn him with a new soubriquet: the this category is because he has just an­ by the loss of the g2-pawn and a quick g­ Torbay Express. David's success was typically nounced his retirement from all competitive pawn march. If 17 l:txhS j]_g3 18 l::!.h1 l:tf4 ! 'route one' - he is a front-runner par excel­ chess. This came out of the blue after he and White can no longer prevent the bishop lence - as it had been in 2009, when he won finished on a very creditable 6/1 1 in Torquay. reaching g4 and mating; in the same way, 1 7 with 9/1 1. This time he went half a point bet­ It took me completely by surprise because gxh5 l:lf4! is game over. Mike actually played ter, with his nearest challengers, the field, one Mike has been such a dedicated chess player 15... j]_xg4 and the game was drawn in 31 and a half points back. Reigning champion for so long. I asked him why he was quitting moves. Had he found 1 5 ...'il' d3, it might have Gawain Jones dropped a couple of early half now and he quoted a number of factors. One deserved the accolade of 'most brilliant fare­ points and soon found himself too far adrift to is the impact of computers. Mike is well- well game' ever. Oh well. ..

58 September 201 3 Interactive and communicative - the new ChessBase training format turns you from an idle onlooker to an active participant! Training questions can now be answered by entering moves to receive feedback immediately, making it easy to grasp motifs and variations. Chess lessons have never been that entertaining and efficient.

Sergei Tiviakov: The French Defence. 3.Nd2: : Attacking with the Italian Lorin D'Costa: Chess Prodigies Uncovered: a complete repertoire for White Game and the Ruy Lopez

The aim of this Learn howto con­ Sergey Karjalcin hit DVD is to provide duct the attack on the headlines in 2002 the White player with the black king using when he became the a complete repertoire diffe rent methods1 world's youngest ever against the French Although the Italian grandmaster aged just Defence. As Sergei Game and the Ruy 12 years 7 months, a Tiviakov explains on Lopez are mostly po­ record which shocked this DVD 3.Nd2 is sitional openings, it is the chess world and an excellent choice. very often possible to still stands today. In Based on his personal make use of attacking the firstof this new experience and the metl10ds of play. This series with ChessBase, latest theoretical developments this DVD is based mostly on the personal experience lM Lorin D'Costa investigates one of the most DVD is a great starting point to learn 3.Nd2. and games of the author, thus making it a unique famousprodigies of modern times - Sergey Sergey Tiviakov is very successful in chess product. The methods described in the Karjakin. In this DVD, D'Costa focuses mainly beating the French Defencewith overal score of DVD are the resulrn of the life-long experience on Sergey's early career from aspiring 9 year old 80% (well above average) from 219 of the author who has played the Ruy Lopez and up to grandmaster at 12, culminati11g in his cur­ games pla)'ed. the from his childhood and has rent world top l 0 status, and on who his rivals The DVD contains lot of exclusive informa­ scored with it many, many wins, including some are for the title of world champion. tion and databases not available an)'where else. against the world's strongest players. The DVD Not many chess players can sa)' the)' defeateda The main database consists of about 312,000 is divided into 4 chapters according to those grandmaster at age l I, but Sergey did when games. All games of the author played in French attacking methods which have given and still are he defeated in the Ukrainian Defence are provided with lots of them not giving tl1e autl1or the best results. Also several 'Team Championships in 200 l, and from a level published previously. other games by other players (such as A. Karpov, endgame at that1 How did Sergey defeat one �Tith interactive training: test yourself and for example) have been added and explained. of the world's best players, , with find out ifyou master the new repertoire and if To complement tl1e instruction, a database is masterful precision at the age of just 12? How you are read)' for battle at the board. Including provided which contains all the games which did Serge)' grind down the reigning world videofeedback on your proposals1 All this makes the author has played in the Italian Game and champion Vladimir Kranmik in 2004 in an the current DVD a ,,must-have" one if you want the Ruy Lopez since 1986. A huge number of opposite coloured bishop ending in tl1e Dort­ to learn how to play against the French Defence these games have never been published before. mund playoff aged just l 4? Enjoy tl1csc and choosing the Ta rrasch variation 3.Nd2. Video Other databases of only annotated games and man)' other scintillating games, along with the running time: 5 hours. references have been added as well. new ChessBase interactive format of Question Ti,�akov gained the titles of World Yo uth Everything makes tl1is DVD an excellent com­ & Answer, to enjoy an interesting documentary Champion at U16 and UIS levels. He moved to prehensive product for learning how to play the about one of the strongest pla)'ers in modern Groningen () in 1997 and became Italian Game and the Ruy Lopez and achieving day chess and his road from young prodigy to Dutch champion in 2006 and 2007. One year the hest results with these openings! grandmaster and beyond1 later he celebrated his biggest success when he won the European Chess Championship. Available in September. Video running time: 5 hours.

RRP£24 .95 / Subscribers £22.46 RRP£24.95 / Subscribers £22.46 RRP£24 .95 / Submibers £22.46

Order from Chess & Bridge by calling 020 7486 8222 or online at shop.chess.co.uk 1: Sacrifice & Initiative Ivan Sokolov, 255 pages, paperback SACRIHCE RRP £21.95 SUBSCRIBERS £1 9.76 2: Techniques of Positional Play AND V.Bronznik & A.Terakhin, 254 pages, paperback RRP £21.95 SUBSCRIBERS £1 9.76 INITIATIVE 3: How Magnus Carlsen Became the Youngest IN CHESS Chess Grandmaster in the World Simen Agdestein, 192 pages, paperback RRP £1 7.50 SUBSCRIBERS £15.75

4: Informant 117 Various GMs, 280 pages, paperback RRP £23.50 SUBSCRIBERS £21 .15

5: Study Chess with Tai M.Tal & A.Koblencs, 272 pages, paperback RRP £1 5.99 SUBSCRIBERS £14.40

6: Ultimate Anti-Gruenfeld: A Samisch Repertoire Dmitry Svetushkin, 232 pages, paperback RRP £17.99 SUBSCRIBERS £1 6.20

7: Mastering Endgame Strategy Johan Hellsten, 544 pages, paperback RRP £23.99 SUBSCRIBERS £21.59

8: Botvinnik: Move by Move Cyrus Lakdawala, 398 pages, paperback RRP £1 9.99 SUBSCRIBERS £18.00

9: Complete Slav I Konstantin Sakaev, 350 pages, paperback RRP £20.99 SUBSCRIBERS £1 8.90

10: Complete Slav II Konstantin Sakaev, 336 pages, paperback RRP £20.99 SUBSCRIBERS £1 8.90

11: Complete Slav I & II (SAVE 25% OF� RRP!) Konstantin Sakaev, A total of 686 pages, paperback RRP £41 .98 SUBSCRIBERS £31 .49

12: The Batsford Book of Chess for Children Sabrina Chevannes, 128 pages, hardback RRP £12.99 SUBSCRIBERS £1 1 .70

13: Fighting Chess: Move by Move (SAVE 25%1) Colin Crouch, 304 pages, paperback RRP £18.99 SUBSCRIBERS £1 4.25

14: Play Like Tai (DVD) GM Simon Williams, 7 hours on 2 discs RRP £24.95 SUBSCRIBERS £12.50

15: Killer c3 Sicilian (DVD) IM Sam Collins 4 hours 30 minutes RRP £19.99 SUBSCRIBERS £1 0.00

16: Killer Dragon 1 - Yugoslav Attack (DVD) Simon Williams, 6 hours 30 minutes RRP £24.95 SUBSCRIBERS £1 2.50

17: Killer Dragon 2-Quieter Systems (DVD) Simon Williams, 5 hours 30 minutes RRP £24.95 SUBSCRIBERS £12.50

18: Fighting for the Initiative (DVD) Tiger Hillarp Persson, 3 hours 47 minutes RRP £22.99 SUBSCRIBERS £20.69

19: Chess Champs: Legends - Romantic Era Card Game, age 7+, average game time 15 minutes RRP £5.99 SUBSCRIBERS £5.39

20: The Reti, A Flexible Attacking Opening (PC-DVD) Alejandro Ramirez, 4 hours RRP £22.99 SUBSCRIBERS £20.69

21 : First Steps in Endgames (PC-DVD) Andrew Martin, 3 hours 12 minutes RRP £22.99 SUBSCRIBERS £20.69